Andrey Balashov

Andrey Balashov took up competitive sailing in 1959 and was on the Soviet national team from 1973-84. Competing in the Finn class, he won Olympic silver in 1976 and bronze in 1980, earning the same medals at the European Championships in the same years. Balashov was also the Soviet Finn class champion in 1973-76, 1978, and 1980. After the 1980 Olympics, he moved to the Star class, with the intention of competing in that class at the 1984 Olympics, but the Soviet-led boycott of 1984 Olympics put an end to his competitive career.

Balashov last competed internationally at the Friendship Games, a replacement games held by Soviet Union and other socialist countries that had boycotted the 1984 Olympics, where he won silver in Star with Aleksandrs Muzičenko. After finishing his sporting career, Balashov worked as a sailing coach in Russia and China, and was also a member of the Russian American Cup team in the 1990s. Since 2010 the Andrey Balashov Cup has been contested annually in the Finn class in Russia in his memory.