Aleksandr Berkutov

Aleksandr Berkutov was one of the top Soviet single scullers at the start of the 1950s, his closest rival being 1952 Olympic single sculls champion Yury Tyukalov. As a single sculler, Berkutov won the 1954 Soviet title and bronze at the 1954 European Championships. But at the middle of the 1950s, they both were overshadowed by a young rowing prodigy Vyacheslav Ivanov, who later became a triple Olympic champion. So in 1955, Berkutov and Tyukalov decided to join forces and they became the most successful double scullers of the world at the end of the 1950s. Together they won Olympic gold in 1956 and silver in 1960, they were European champions from 1956-1959 and 1961, won the double sculls Challenge Cup at Henley Regatta in 1957 and 1958 and won the Pasqua del Canottaggio in 1959. They also won the Soviet double sculls title in 1957 and 1961. Berkutov retired from sports in 1961 and worked as a rowing coach. He followed his former partner Tyukalov as the head coach of the Soviet Olympic rowing team in 1972 after Tyukalov had held the same position in 1968. From 1990 until his death, Berkutov worked as a professor in the rowing department of Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism. Berkutov published textbooks and scientific papers about rowing and also produced a series of training videos for rowers with Russian director Aleksey Komarov.