Igor Paklin

Igor Paklin is a Soviet track and field athlete (high jumper). Silver medalist of the World Championship. European Champion. European indoor champion. World record holder (2.41 m). Igor came to the sport after his older brother Valeriy at the age of 9. He trained in several sports - running, jumping, shot put. Gradually, high jumps became his main specialization; already at the age of 15, Igor reached 1.85 m. For two years of training, he improved his personal best by 33 cm. At the age of 17, in 1980, having overcome a height of 2.18, he became a Master of Sports. In 1981, while being a part of the junior team, he was seriously injured and doctors even recommended quitting the sport. The restoration took all of 1982. In 1983, Igor became the winner of the USSR Championship for the first time and raised his personal record to 2.33. He was taken to the USSR national team and soon won the World Universiade in Edmonton, then took 5th place at the World Championships in Helsinki. In 1985, at the Universiade in the Japanese city of Kobe, Igor Paklin conquered a height of 2.41 and became the World record holder. His record stood for two years. In 1986, Igor wins the European Championships, and a year later becomes the winner of medals at two world championships. In Indianapolis, he wins the first winter world championship, setting a new USSR record. And in Rome, only in attempts, he lost the gold medal to Patrik Sjöberg at the Summer World Championships in Rome. At the Seoul 1988: Games of the XXIV Olympiad (1988) Paklin performed unsuccessfully due to illness. In the early 1990s, he won the last USSR championship and the last USSR Spartakiad. But at the Barcelona 1992: Games of the XXV Olympiad (1992) he could not show his best results. The 1993 World Athletics Championships was the last competition of his career, but even there Paklin could not even qualify.