Valeriy Sergeyevich Skvortsov ' onMouseout='HidePop("19878")' href="/topics/Berdychiv">Berdychiv

Berdychiv

Berdychiv is a historic city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Berdychiv Raion , the city itself is of direct oblast subordinance, and is located south of the oblast capital, Zhytomyr, at around .The current estimated population is around...

, 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...

, former USSR) is a former high jump

High jump

The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....

er who represented the USSR in the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics.

Skvortsov was first noticed by Soviet high jump coach Viktor Lonsky, who offered him training in a converted sports gym located within the walls of an old Catholic cathedral. His sports career began to accelerate as he won various local high jump competitions and later was invited to Moscow to train for the Soviet Olympic team.

Skvortsov had subsequently participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games of 1964, where he took the 14th place in the high-jump final with a jump height of 2.06 meters. Valeriy Brumel

Valeriy Brumel

Valeriy Nikolayevich Brumel , 14 April 1942 – 26 January 2003) was a Soviet Olympic athlete. The 1964 Olympic champion in the Men's High Jump, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes ever to compete in the High Jump, second only to current world record holder Javier Sotomayor of...

 from the Soviet Union), and John Thomas from the United States won the gold and silver medals, respectively.

At the 1966 European Indoor Games

1966 European Indoor Games

The 1966 European Indoor Games were the very first edition of what later became the European Athletics Indoor Championships. These games were held in 1966 at Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, a city of West Germany.- Track :- Field :- Medal table :...

 championship in Dortmund

Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....

, West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

, Skvortsov won first place with a career best jump of 2.17 meters. At the 1968 European Indoor Games

1968 European Indoor Games

The 3rd European Indoor Games were held in 1968 at Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, the capital of Spain.-Track:-Field:-Medal table:-External links:* at GBRathletics.com* at GBRathletics.com...

 he successfully defended his title as the European high jump champion winning first place again with 2.17 meters.

Skvortsov participated in the 1968 Summer Olympics

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

 in Mexico city

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, where he competed with Dick Fosbury

Dick Fosbury

Richard Douglas "Dick" Fosbury is one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field. He completely revolutionized the high jump event, inventing a unique "back-first" technique, now known as the Fosbury Flop, adopted by almost all high jumpers today. His method was to sprint...

 and Valentin Gavrilov

Valentin Gavrilov

Valentin Aleksandrovich Gavrilov was a Soviet athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. He trained at Dynamo in Moscow.He competed for the USSR in the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City, Mexico in the high jump where he won the bronze medal....

. His 2.16 meter jump secured him a fourth place finish.

After a leg injury forced him to stop competing, Skortsov continued as a high jump trainer in Moscow (Dinamo) and then went to work as the head of Duma

Duma

A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...

 security. Skvortsov is currently retired and resides in Moscow, Russia.