Sergey Anatolevich Khlebnikov was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n 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...

 who competed for the Soviet Union

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....

 in the 1980

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

 and the 1984 Winter Olympics

1984 Winter Olympics

The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...

.

He was born in Sortavala

Sortavala

Sortavala is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga. Population: It is an important station of the Vyborg-Joensuu railroad.-History:...

 and died in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 by drowning in the Mitinskoe pond; "an oak of a man," the Western press described him as a "tank" and a typical product of communism.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Khlebnikov was one of the perennial favorites in the sprint events, battling often with fellow Soviet sprinter Yevgeny Kulikov

Yevgeny Kulikov

Yevgeny Nikolayevich Kulikov is a former speed skater who specialised in the sprint.Yevgeny Kulikov trained at Burevestnik Voluntary Sports Society...

, Japanese
Springer Akira Kuroiwa

Akira Kuroiwa

is a former ice speed skater from Japan, who represented his native country at two consecutive Winter Olympics, starting in 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. In 1988, he won the bronze medal in the men's 500 metres, after having captured two world titles at the Sprints Championships...

, and American all-rounder Eric Heiden

Eric Heiden

Eric Arthur Heiden, M.D. is an American former long track speed skater and road cyclist who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York,...

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