1951 marks the beginning of the Medeo-era. The Medeo-arena, situated outside
Almaty in the Kazakhstan mountains, has produced a lot of world records during
the last half century. In 1952 almost unknown names like Jurij Sergejev,
Nikolaj Mamonov and Valentijn Tsjajkin appeared on the world
record table, and a lot of people in Westen Europe thought that it was a hoax.
When in 1953 Boris Sjilkov was second after Oleg Gontjarenko in the world
championship, even the most incredulous had to accept the power of Sovjet speed
skating. Sjilkov was world champion and european champion 1954 and took the gold
medal on 5000 meters at the 1956 olympics. His most famous achievement was his
7.45.6 in Medeo 1955, which improved the previous world record with a full 18
seconds. Sjilkov died 2015.
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