Oleg STEPANOV

Oleg Stepanov started sambo, a Soviet wrestling style similar to judo, in 1954, and quickly became one of the top sambo practitioners in the country. In the 1950s and 1960s all Soviet resources were focused on sambo, as judo was not an Olympic sport. But sambo has its roots in judo, and many Soviet sambo wrestlers also competed in judo with success. Besides his Olympic bronze, Stepanov won bronze at the 1965 World Judo Championships in lightweight, and was European Judo champion in lightweight in 1965 and half-middleweight in 1966. He was also on the winning team at the European Judo Championships from 1963-66, and won a bronze in the team event in 1967. Domestically the Soviets did not start national judo championships until 1973, but Stepanov was Soviet sambo champion in featherweight in 1961 and from 1964-68. After finishing his competitive career, Stepanov worked for a long time as a sambo and judo coach with CSKA Moskva.