Sergey KLEVCHENYA

Sergey Klevchenya arose as a top sprinter in the 1992/1993 season, placing second in the 500 m World Cup and third in the 1,000 m, while winning three races. He went into the 1994 Olympics with a second place at the World Sprint Championships in his pocket, and made good on that promise by finishing second in the Olympic 500 m (behind compatriot Aleksandr Golubyov) and third in the 1,000 m. He went on to win the 1996 and 1997 World Sprint Championships. Despite these excellent performances, Klevchenya failed to adopt quickly to the new clap skates that dominated the 1998 Olympics, and his results in Nagano were poor by his standards. He managed to climb up the ranks once more, this time peaking with a 3rd place over 1,000 m at the 2001 World Distance Championships - an event he had won back in 1996. Domestically, Klevchenya was the Russian sprint all-around champion in 1993, 1995 and 1999, while being a runner-up in 1992 and 2000. He never won a Russian distance title, but won the 500 m and 1,000 m bronzes at the 1991 Soviet Championships and 500 m silver at the 1992 CIS Championships. Following his retirement, Sergey Klevchenya became sprint coach of the national team. He later also coached the national team of Kazakhstan.

Personal Bests: 500 – 35.00 (2001); 1000 – 1:08.41 (2002); 1500 – 1:49.24 (2002); 5000 – 7:18.79 (1989).