Ivan Byakov

Ivan Byakov made his international début at the 1972 Olympics, where he was 12th in the 20 km race and won a gold medal as a member of the Soviet relay team. Byakov never competed at the World Championships, but was selected to the 1976 Soviet Olympic team and won his second Olympic gold, again in the relay race. Domestically Byakov won one Soviet title, in the 1973 20 km. After his competitive career Byakov worked as a biathlon coach in Ukraine, also serving as the head coach of both the Ukrainian national senior and junior biathlon teams. From 1992 to 1998 Byakov was the first president of the Ukrainan Biathlon Federation, and was also a member of the Ukrainan Olympic Committee. At the time of his death Byakov was the member of Ukrainian Biathlon Federation’s board of directors.