Yury Bakarinov

Soviet track and field athlete Yury Bakarinov was a hammer thrower who later became the national coach in the discipline. Bakarinov first became involved in athletics in 1957, with him soon joining Dynamo Moskva, before representing the USSR national team from 1961 to 1970. During the first half of the 1960s he was ranked in the world’s top 10 for five consecutive years, but faced tough competition from several other Soviet hammer throwers. In 1962 he won bronze at the European Athletics Championships in Beograd with a throw of 66.57 metres.

Bakarinov won his only USSR title in 1964 when he threw 65.55 metres, setting a Soviet record in the process. The win was a bit of an upset, with him beating the favourites Gennady Kondrashov and Romuald Klim, earning himself a place on the Soviet team for the Tokyo Olympics. At the Games Bakarinov missed out on a medal after finishing fifth, with his arch-rival Klim making up for missing out on a national title by winning gold. One year later Bakarinov won bronze at the Summer Universiade in Budapest.

After his retirement from competition Bakarinov became a noted coach with both the Soviet and Russian teams. His many students included Ihar Astapkovich, Aleksey Zagorny, and Vadim Khersontsev.

Personal Best: HT – 69.55 (1964).