Valery MURATOV

Valery Muratov was the first prominent male Soviet sprinter after the great Yevgeny Grishin. As a true sprinter Muratov never competed at the World or European All-around Championships but won the World Sprint Championships in 1970 and 1973, while placing second in 1972 and third in 1975. Muratov never captured an Olympic title, but he won a bronze medal in 1972 and both silver and bronze at the 1976 Olympic Games. Muratov also set seven World records, four at 500 m, two in the 1000 m and one in the sprint all-around. He set all his records on his home track at Medeo, the first four records in January 1970 and the latter three in March 1975. Muratov also won six Soviet sprint titles. After finishing his sporting career, Muratov worked as a coach with the Soviet Union and later Russian national speed skating teams.

Personal Bests: 500 – 37.22 (1975); 1000 – 1:15.81 (1978); 1500 – 1:59.9 (1978); 5000 – 8:22.8 (1969); 10000 – 17:47.6 (1979).