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VIKTOR CHUKARIN - Ukraine
2009 INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS HALL OF FAME
Inducted as a member of the Class of 2009
1952 Olympics
Gold: Team, All-around, Pommel Horse, Vault
Silver: Rings, Parallel Bars
1956 Olympics
Gold: Team, All-around, Parallel Bars
Silver: Floor Exercise
Bronze: Pommel Horse
1954 World Championships
Gold: Team, All-around, Parallel Bars
Bronze: Pommel Horse
When he graduated from the Kiev College of Physical
Culture, Viktor Chukarin, who was born Nov. 9,
1921, in Krasnoarmeyskoye, Ukraine, was forced
to put his gymnastics career on hold. World War
II broke out, and Chukarin fought in an artillery
unit. He was soon taken prisoner and spent four
years in the Sandbostel concentration camp.
Through good fortune, Chukarin escaped death and
returned home in 1945, so thin his own mother didn’t
recognize him.
Chukarin got busy in the gym and rebuilt his emaciated
body. In 1948 he became USSR champion, a title
he would hold through 1951.
Then, at age 30, when most gymnasts are ready to
retire, Chukarin dominated the 1952 Olympics in
Helsinki. He led the Soviet Union to its first
Olympic team title and won golds in the all-around,
pommel horse and vault. He also won silvers on
rings and parallel bars.
Two years later, Chukarin led the Soviets to its
first World Championships victory in Rome, where
he won the all-around crown and the gold on parallel
bars. Known for his calm under pressure, Chukarin
slowed little signs of slowing at his final major
competition, the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. Again,
he carried his team to victory and claimed yet
another all-around title. In the apparatus finals
he won the gold on parallel bars, placed second
on floor exercise and third on pommel horse. Eleven
medals in two Olympics!
Chukarin, who died Aug. 25, 1984, was remarkably
efficient in the relatively few competitions he
entered. But perhaps his years as a prisoner of
war merely taught him the patience and cunning
to overcome adversaries of any kind. |
