Valeriy Brumel

Valeriy Brumel

Brumel (centre) at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Born	14 April 1942 Razvedki, Amur Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	26 January 2003 (aged 60) Moscow, Russia
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	High jump
Club	Burevestnik Moscow
Retired	1970
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	2.28 m (1963)
Medal record Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo High jump 1960 Rome High jump European Championships 1962 Belgrade High jump Universiade 1961 Sofia High jump 1963 Porto Alegre High jump

Valeriy Nikolayevich Brumel (Russian: Валерий Николаевич Брумель; 14 April 1942 – 26 January 2003) was a Soviet high jumper. The 1964 Olympic champion and multiple world record holder, he is regarded as one of the greatest athletes ever to compete in the high jump. His international career was ended by a motorcycle accident in 1965.

Brumel was born in a far eastern Siberian village to a family of geologists exploring the region. They later moved to Lugansk and taught at a local university. Brumel took up the high jump at 12 in Lugansk, coached by P. S. Shtein. Aged 16 he cleared 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) using the then dominant straight-leg straddle technique. He improved his skills under the coaching of V. M. Dyachkov in Moscow. In 1960 he broke the USSR record, 2.17 metres (7 ft 1 in), and was selected to the Olympic team. At the 1960 Summer Olympics, he cleared the same height as the winner Robert Shavlakadze, but made more attempts and thus was awarded a silver medal. In 1961–1963 he broke the world record in the high jump six times, improving it from 2.23 metres (7 ft 4 in) to 2.28 metres (7 ft 6 in). He also won the high jump at the 1961 and 1963 Universiade, 1962 European Championships, the 1964 Summer Olympics and the USSR Championships of 1961–1963.

After going undefeated during the 1965 season, Brumel suffered a multiple fracture in his right foot in a motorcycle accident, and faced an amputation. He was operated on successfully by professor Gavriil Ilizarov with a new leg-lengthening procedure using his external fixator. Yet even after 29 surgeries he could not fully recover. He retired in 1970 after jumping 2.06 metres (6 ft 9 in) at local competitions.

In retirement Brumel turned to acting and writing. He starred in the films Sport, Sport, Sport (1970) and The Right to Jump (1971) and wrote numerous novels and plays, including the novel Don't Change Yourself (1979), which was translated into seven languages, and the libretto to Rauf Hajiyev's operetta Golden Caravel (Золотая каравелла).