Saybattal Mursalimov

Kyrgyz Saybattal Mursalimov took up horse riding while serving in the Soviet Army and soon rose to be one of the top Soviet eventers. During his career Mursalimov competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games and at the 1962 and 1965 European Championships, winning the team gold medal at both European Championships and placing fifth individually at the 1960 Olympics. Domestically, Mursalimov was the Soviet individual eventing champion in 1952, 1953 and 1959 and team eventing champion in 1970. After finishing his sporting career, Mursalimov worked as an eventing coach, serving as head coach of the Kyrgyz national team. His most famous pupil was the 1980 Olympic team gold medalist Aleksandr Blinov.