Viktor Kapitonov

Viktor Kapitonov’s Olympic title in the road race of 1960 was the first cycling title for a Soviet rider. To win, he had to sprint twice. Mistakingly thinking the next-to-last lap was the final one, Kapitonov sprinted to the line, to the surprise of the breakaway cyclist, Livio Trapè. At a second attempt in the actual final lap, Kapitonov had enough left for the gold medal. He had earlier won a bronze medal in the 100 km team time trial.

Kapitonov’s other international victories came in the Eastern block dominated Peace Race, in which he won the team prize with the Soviet Union four times (1958-59, 1961-62). He also collected five Soviet titles, on both track and road. Ending his active career in 1965, he became the coach of the Soviet road team until 1985. In 1983, he earned a PhD degree in pedagogical science.