5 world sports records set by Russians that still stand
On April 6, 2025, ice hockey player Alexander Ovechkin became the highest goalscorer in the NHL, finally catching up and surpassing legend Wayne Gretsky. What other sports records have Russian and Soviet athletes have set that remain unbroken?
1. Hammer thrower Yuri Sedykh
At the European Championships in Stuttgart on August 30, 1986, Soviet track and field athlete Yuri Sedykh threw the hammer 86.74 meters and set a record that no one has been able to break to this day. “That day, everything came together: my mood, my physical fitness, my ambitions, the competition, the sector, the fans and the weather,” Sedykh told the ‘Sport-Express’ newspaper in 2015.
2. Shot putter Natalia Lisovskaya
Yuri Sedykh's wife, Natalia Lisovskaya, also holds an unrivaled world record. On June 7, 1987, at a competition in Moscow, she pushed the shot 22.63 meters. Moreover, the previous two records also belonged to her.
3. Weightlifter Vasily Alekseyev
On April 15, 1972, at the USSR Championships in Tallinn, the Soviet weightlifter scored a total of 645 kg in the triathlon (bench press, snatch and clean and jerk). This record became "eternal", since the bench press was excluded from the program that same year.
4. Track & field athlete Elena Nikolaeva
On April 20, 1996, at a competition in Sochi, race walking specialist Elena Nikolaeva covered a distance of 10 km in 41 minutes 4 seconds. The previous achievement in this discipline also belonged to an athlete from Russia – Larisa Ramazanova with a result of 41 minutes 29 seconds.
5. Track & field athletes Yulia Gushchina, Olga Kotlyarova, Olga Zaitseva and Olesya Krasnomovets
Four Russian athletes at once became world record holders at the competition in Glasgow in 2006. The girls won the 400 meter relay in an indoor stadium, covering it in 3 minutes 23.37 seconds.
