Yakov Tolstikov

Yakov Grigoryevich Tolstikov (Russian: Я́ков Григо́рьевич То́лстиков; born 20 May 1959 in Prokopyevsk) is a former Russian distance runner. Tolstikov rose to worldwide prominence following his surprise upset of favorite Gelindo Bordin in the 1991 London Marathon.^[1][2] He set a personal best of 2:09:17 hours at the race which went unbeaten as a Soviet record.^[3] This time was the fastest by any European in the 1991 season, and the third fastest time in the world after Kōichi Morishita and Takeyuki Nakayama of Japan.^[4][5]

In international competition he represented the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, coming in a distant 22nd.^[6] He twice ran at the World Championships in Athletics, coming eleventh in 1987 but failing to finish in 1991. He was a marathon bronze medallist at the 1986 Goodwill Games.^[7]

In individual races, he won the Uzhhorod Marathon three times (1983, 1986, 1987), the 1984 Moscow International Peace Marathon, the 1995 Siberian International Marathon, and the 1990 Humarathon.^[8] He was a one-time national champion, winning the marathon at the Soviet Athletics Championships in 1988.^[9]