Oleg Georgievich Goncharenko (18 August 1931 – 16 December 1986), Distinguished Master of Sports of the USSR

Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR

Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for athletes. The classification was established in 1935 and was based on separate classifications, which existed for several sports disciplines before...

, was the first male Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 speed skater

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

 to become World Allround Champion.

Born in Kharkiv

Kharkiv

Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, Oleg Goncharenko made his international debut in 1953 and promptly became World Allround Champion

World Allround Speed Skating Championships

The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...

. He would win two more World Allround Championships after that, as well as two European Allround Championships

European Speed Skating Championships

The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The...

. In 1958, he actually managed to win the "triple", becoming World, European, and Soviet Allround Champion. At the 1956 Winter Olympics

1956 Winter Olympics

The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. This celebration of the Games was held from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out...

 of Cortina d'Ampezzo

Cortina d'Ampezzo

Cortina d'Ampezzo is a town and comune in the southern Alps located in Veneto, a region in Northern Italy. Located in the heart of the Dolomites in an alpine valley, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene...

, Goncharenko won bronze on the 5,000 m and on the 10,000 m. He also participated in the 5,000 m at the 1960 Winter Olympics

1960 Winter Olympics

The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...

 of Squaw Valley, but finished only sixth.

Both at home at abroad, Goncharenko was unusually popular for many years, even long after he had retired from speed skating. After winning his first World Championship in 1953 in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, he received dozens of telegrams

Telegraphy

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

 in his hotel room there from all over the Soviet Union and from abroad. One of those telegrams he kept until the end of his life because it was particularly dear to him. It was a short message from the legendary Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 speed skater Oscar Mathisen

Oscar Mathisen

Oscar Wilhelm Mathisen was a Norwegian speed skater and celebrity, almost rivalling Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen as symbols for a young nation...

, reading "Congratulations. Oscar Mathisen." – written just one year before Mathisen's death. Goncharenko's achievements also prompted two cities, Denver

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

 and Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, to name him an honorary citizen. He also was awarded the Order of Lenin

Order of Lenin

The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...

.

Goncharenko retired from speed skating in 1962. He died in 1986, at the age of 55, after a painful illness.

Medals

An overview of medals won by Goncharenko at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

Championships	Gold medal	Silver medal	Bronze medal
Winter Olympics Speed skating at the Winter Olympics Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.-History:...	–	–	1956 (5,000 m) 1956 (10,000 m)
World Allround World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...	1953 1956 1958	1954 1955	–
European Allround European Speed Skating Championships The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The...	1957 1958	1955	–
Soviet Allround	1956 1958	1953 1954 1957 1960	–

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Goncharenko skated his personal records.

Event	Result	Date	Venue	WR
500 m	42.2	4 January 1960	Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world...	40.2
1,500 m	2:11.6	28 February 1960	Squaw Valley	2:06.3
5,000 m	7:57.5	29 January 1956	Misurina Lake Misurina Lake Misurina is the greater natural lake of the Cadore and it is 1,754 m above sea level, fraction of Auronzo di Cadore . The perimeter is 2.6 km long, while the depth is 5 m....	7:45.6
10,000 m	16:36.4	21 January 1956	Davos Eisstadion Davos Vaillant Arena is an arena in Davos, Switzerland. It is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena of HC Davos. It holds 7,080 people, of which 3,280 are seated...	16:32.6

Goncharenko has an Adelskalender score of 183.636 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a third place.