Aleksandr Puchkov

Aleksandr Puchkov was one of the leading Soviet high hurdlers in the early 1980s. Throughout his career, however, Puchkov was under the shadow of another great Soviet high hurdler, Andrey Prokofyev, although he managed to beat him on the most important occasion – at the 1980 Olympic Games. Puchkov was selected for the Soviet national team after he won the 110 hurdles gold at the 1975 European Junior Championships. At the 1978 European Championships Puchkov was eliminated in the heats and at the 1979 Universiade Puchkov won a bronze medal. At the 1980 Olympics, Puchkov beat Prokofyev in the 110 hurdles final by 0.05 seconds to win a bronze medal behind Thomas Munkelt and Alejandro Casañas. In 1982, Puchkov won his only major title, when he won gold in the 60 hurdles at the European Indoor Championships and Puchkov last competed internationally at the 1982 European Championships, where he was fifth. Puchkov won the Soviet 110 hurdles titles in 1979 and 1980, while taking silver in 1982 and bronze in 1978.

Personal Best: 110H – 13.44 (1980).