Aleksandr ANUFRIYEV

Aleksandr Anufriyev was born in an extreme northern village of Russia in a Komi-Izhemtsy family, a northernmost sub-group of the Komi people, an ethnic group whose homeland is in the extreme northeastern part of Russia, mostly north of Arctic Circle. Anufriyev and his family made their living as fishermen until 1944 when he was mobilized to the Soviet Army and sent to the Karelian Front. After being wounded, Anufriyev took up athletics to overcome the effects of his injury. After demobilization in 1950, Anufriyev decided not to return to his homeland and started to work as a mechanic with Gorky Automobile Plant GAZ.

Anufriyev also continued his athletics career and the apex of his career was 1952, when he won his only two Soviet titles (5K, 10K) and was selected for the 1952 Soviet Olympic team. At the Olympic Games, Anufriyev won a surprising bronze medal behind legendary Emil Zátopek and Alain Mimoun in the 10,000 and then finished a distant 10th in the 5,000 final four days later. After his great 1952 season, Anufriyev continued competing, but was overshadowed by Volodymyr Kuts and Pyotr Bolotnikov in domestic races, winning only four bronzes in the next four years at the Soviet Championships, before retiring in 1956 after he was not selected for the 1956 Soviet Olympic team. He then worked at the Zaporizhstal steel mill in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine until he decided to return to his homeland in 1963. Anufriyev settled in Naryan-Mar, the largest settlement in his native land and started to work in a local sawmill, but died rather young in September 1966 in a boating accident on river Pechora, about 10 km south of Naryan-Mar.

Personal Bests: 5000 – 13:58.8 (1953); 10000 – 29:10.6 (1955).