Personal Data
Surname: SalnikovFirstname: VladimirCountry: USSRDate of birth: 1960-05-21Birthplace : LeningradHeight: 183 cmWeight: 70.0 kgCareer Data
Discipline: 400m, 800m, 1500m freestyleWorld records: 11 (400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle)Olympic Games (4 medals - 4 gold)World Championships (6 medals - 4 gold, 2 silver)European Championships (5 medals - 4 gold, 1 silver)Biography
Swimming with the enemyUnbeaten in 61 racesIt might seem unlikely, but the story of Vladimir Salnikov's unwilling attitude to water is true.
One trip to the swimming pool in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) as a six-year-old child had a double effect: he did not want to return and, ultimately, he went on to become the man who broke all middle distance records previously set by the domineering Americans.
In the 1500m and 400m, Salnikov became quite untouchable.
Following a chance meeting with coach Igor Koshkine while swimming with friends, Salnikov began to train seriously. Koshkine, evidently, was aware of the young athlete's potential.
A fifth place in the 1500m at the 1976 Montreal Games was simply a ripple on the water. What was to follow in Berlin (1978) and Moscow (1980), would prove a veritable tsunami.
The world championships in Berlin proved the turnaround as Salnikov took world titles in both disciplines and America now had a fight on its hands.
Yet, ironically, Salnikov subsequently moved to the United states - both to train and refine his technique, and to study.
Five hours and 20km per day coupled with weight training was a rigorous programme and he combined his sport with time spent studying for a physical education degree.
The Moscow Games, without the added competitive edge of the Americans, only served to reinforce Salnikov's time spent across the Atlantic, as he won the 400m and 1500m freestyle races adding a third Olympic title in the 4x200m freestyle as the Soviet Union dominated affairs.
But prior to the 1984 Olympics, boycotted by the Soviet team, Salnikov mysteriously fell ill.
Returning to competition in Madrid (1986), it would take the encouragement and professional help of his wife before a return to form in 1988 would make him one of the few swimmers to ever regain an Olympic title eight years after his initial win.
This amazing comeback, however, proved to be Salnikov's swan song. The first man to swim 1500m in under 15 minutes, and who remained unbeaten in that discipline between October 1977 and August 1986 a stretch of 61 races, retired following the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
He had just won his fourth Olympic gold in the 1500m after the trio of titles in 1980.
These days he works as president of the Russian swimming federation.
Photos
| POS | COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | United States | 46 | 29 | 29 | 104 |
| 2 | China | 38 | 27 | 23 | 88 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 29 | 17 | 19 | 65 |
| 4 | Russia | 24 | 26 | 32 | 82 |
| 5 | South Korea | 13 | 8 | 7 | 28 |
| 6 | Germany | 11 | 19 | 14 | 44 |
| 7 | France | 11 | 11 | 12 | 34 |
| 8 | Italy | 8 | 9 | 11 | 28 |
| 9 | Hungary | 8 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| 10 | Australia | 7 | 16 | 12 | 35 |
The Philippines last reached the final round swimming 80 years ago when Jikirum Adjaluddin and Teofilo Yldefonso ended up in the final six in the 1932 Los Angeles Games.
The Philippines will shoot for its first gold medal in six of the following events in the 2012 London Olympics: Athletics, BMX, Boxing, Cycling, Shooting and Swimming.
Teofilo Yldefonso is the first Filipino to win a medal and the only one to take home multiple medals. He finished third both in the Men's 200 meter breastroke during the 1928 and 1932 Olympics.
The men's Philippine Basketball team is the first country to ever score 100 or more points in the 1948 Olympics after clobbering Iraq,102-30.
Men's boxing has for medals in the Olympics with Anthony Villanueva, silver in the Featherweight Division of the 1964 Games in Tokyo; Leopoldo Serantes, third in 1988 Seoul; Roel Velasco, third in Barcelona; and his brother Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco, second in the 1996 Atlanta Games.
With only eight athletes in six sporting events for the London Games, this will be PH's smallest delegation since 1996.
Harry Tañamor, the only Filipino predicted to win by the Sports Illustrated in its Olympic Preview edition, bows out in the first match up in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
John Baylon, a nine-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, and Jerry Diño were the last Filipino Olympic qualifiers in the discipline Judo, having vied in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Mary Antoinette Rivero's tie for fifth place in Taekwondo is the closest any Filipino athlete came to a medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The largest delegation the Philippines has ever sent to the Games was 53 in the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, though not competing, carries the Philippine flag at the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Philippines holds the record for winning the most medals without a gold haul with seven bronze and two silvers for a total of nine.
The Philippines is the first country to compete and win an Olympic medal among Southeast Asian countries.
Arianne Cerdena won a gold in bowling at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but Cerdena's gold was not included in the medal tally since bowling was considered only as a demonstration sport.
The Philippine basketball team wound up fifth place—best finish for an Asian country in the Olympics to date—in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the first time basketball was played as an Olympic sport.
The Philippines is the first nation in the tropics to ever participate in the Winter Olympic Games.
The Philippines has only won medals in three events since joining the Olympics in 1924.
1972 was the last year the Philippine men's basketball team, which then paraded William 'Bogs' Adornado, Danny Florencio and Yoyong Martirez among others in its line up, has qualified for the Olympics.
The Philippines participated in the Winter Olympics three times, in 1972 (Juan Cipriano and Ben Nanasca, alpine skiing), in 1988 (Raymund Ocampo, luge) and in 1992 (Michael Teruel, alpine skiing).
The Philippines has not won a medal since Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco settled for silver in boxing via a controversial decision during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Is this US-based Filipina gymnast bound for the Olympics? 