Nikolay Solovyov

In his youth, Nikolay Solovyov competed in various sports, such as shooting and fencing (finishing sixth in the Soviet foil championships), before turning to wrestling. He appeared in international competition only in 1955 and 1956, competing in three country matches and the 1956 Olympics. In Melbourne, he suffered a loss against Dursan Ali Eğribaş but thanks to the "bad points" system, he was able to fight for the gold medal, which he won by pinning Ignazio Fabra. Apart from this feat, Solovyov won the 1955 and 1959 Soviet Greco-Roman flyweight titles, Soviet championships Greco-Roman flyweight silver in 1958 and bronze in 1954. A graduate of the Institute of Physical Culture, he later trained the national team for several years and worked as an international wrestling referee. He also was vice-president of the Greco-Roman wrestling federation for the city of Leningrad.