Valeriy Borzov

Career

Born in Sambir, Drohobych Oblast, Soviet Union, Borzov started his track and field career in 1968. He became a household name in the Track and Field circles after having won the sprint-double at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki. He had already won the 100 m championship in 1969, when he equalled Armin Hary's nine-year-old European record of 10.0 seconds.

At the 1972 Munich Olympics, two of the American favorites, Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson, missed the 100 m quarterfinals due to a misunderstanding about the starting time of the heats. Coincidentally Borzov almost missed his own quarter final as well, having fallen asleep in the stadium, his coach waking him up just as the race was about to start. Their times in the trials were both 9.9 with Eddie Hart just ahead. After Borzov had won the 100 m sprint with relative ease in a time of 10.07 seconds, the Americans promised they would beat Borzov in the 200 m competition.

However, with all three Americans in the final this time, Borzov won again in great style. The picture, featuring Borzov winning the 200 m heats at the 1972 Summer Olympics was selected for the Voyager Golden Record and later launched into space aboard two Voyager spacecraft in 1977. However, the Americans won the 4 × 100 m relay with the Soviets taking second place. Hart ran the anchor leg of that relay and as the Americans were 4 Metres ahead of the U.S.S.R. at the final changeover the great Ukrainian was denied any chance of any chance of demonstrating his superiority over his American rival.

Between the 1972 and the 1976 Olympics, Borzov spent more time on his studies and soccer. Still, this did not stop him from winning his third successive 100 m title at the European Championships in 1974. Rumours of a planned assassination attempt and his possible defection attempt surrounded his appearance at the Montreal Olympics. He finished third in the 100 m race behind Caribbean sprinters Hasley Crawford and Donald Quarrie, in a time of 10.14, his fourth Olympic medal. In the 4 × 100 m relay, his team won another bronze.

A persisting injury forced Borzov to abandon his hopes to participate in his third Olympic Games. He ended his career in 1979. About that time, he married Ludmilla Tourischeva, a four-time Olympic champion in gymnastics.

Political career

Borzov's political career started back in 1970s as a member of the Communist Youth League in Ukraine Komsomol of Ukraine. In 1980-1986 he was one of secretaries of the Central Committee of Komsomol of Ukraine. From 1991 to 1998, Borzov served as the president of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee. He has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1994. He has also held a Youth and Sports cabinet minister position with the Government of Ukraine from 1990 till 1997. From 1998 until 2006, he was a member of the Ukrainian parliament. Soon after being elected on the party list for People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) in 1998 he changed from the Rukh faction to the faction "Reforms Center" in 1998–1999. Yet after dissolution of the parliamentary faction of Hromada, in 1999 Borzov became one of the first who joined the newly created parliamentary faction Batkivshchyna (today known as All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland") in Verkhovna Rada, with which he stayed almost to the end of the third parliamentary convocation. Sometimes in 2001 Borzov decided to change sides again and joined the parliamentary faction of Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united). He stayed with the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) for the next elections in 2002 and eventually became a member of the party in 2003.