Brumel, Valery Nikolayevich

▪ 2004

      Soviet high jumper (b. May 14, 1942, Razvedki, Russia, U.S.S.R.—d. Jan. 26, 2003, Moscow, Russia), dominated the sport of high jumping in the early 1960s, winning two Olympic medals (silver in 1960 and gold in 1964) and setting six consecutive outdoor world records between 1961 and 1963. His final record, 2.28 m (7 ft 5³/₄ in), was not broken officially until 1971. Brumel, who used the traditional face-down straddle technique, also set two indoor high-jump records in 1961. He sustained multiple fractures to his right leg in a motorcycle accident in 1965. After numerous surgeries and prolonged rehabilitation, he returned to competition in 1969, and in 1970 he cleared 2.13 m (almost 7 ft). Brumel later earned a doctorate in sports psychology and wrote a semiautobiographical novel and two plays.

* * *