15 Facts About Vladimir Kuts

Volodymyr Petrovych Kuts was a Soviet long-distance runner.

Vladimir Kuts won the 5000 and 10000 m races at the 1956 Olympics, setting Olympic records in both events.

Vladimir Kuts's father died due to alcoholism when Kuts was five years old.

Vladimir Kuts took up running after the war, while continuing his military service as a navy sniper.

Vladimir Kuts lost the world record months later to Chataway, only to take it back 10 days later.

However, Vladimir Kuts had set a new 10,000 metres world record shortly before the Games.

Vladimir Kuts broke away from Pirie with a final, desperate sprint, and admitted later that had Pirie stayed with him on that sprint, he might have dropped out due to fatigue.

The 5,000 m final 5 days later ended in a similar fashion, with Vladimir Kuts leading from start to finish.

Vladimir Kuts's winning margin of 11 seconds was the largest ever for this event in Olympic history.

Vladimir Kuts improved the 5000 m world record in 1957 to 13:35.0 minutes, a time which would remain unbeaten until 1965, when it was bettered by Australia's Ron Clarke.

Vladimir Kuts had often suffered from pains in his stomach and legs, which he once froze while serving in the Navy.

Vladimir Kuts suffered a stroke after a traffic accident in 1972, and hence was not allowed to accompany his several trainees at the 1972 Olympics.

Vladimir Kuts died in 1975, in an apparent suicide from mixing sleeping pills and alcohol.

Vladimir Kuts met his first wife in 1953, when she was taking his interviews as a journalist.

Vladimir Kuts later taught him Russian grammar, as Kuts completed only six years of school before the start of World War II, and often mixed up Russian and Ukrainian languages.