Nikolai Kuksenkov
| Nikolai Kuksenkov | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| — Gymnast — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Nikolai Yulievich Kuksenkov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |
 Russia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former countries represented |
 Ukraine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
June 2, 1989 Kiev, Ukraine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Men's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Dynamo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assistant coach(es) | Igor Kalabushkin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach(es) | Yuliy Kuksenkov | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Nikolai Yulievich Kuksenkov, formerly known as Mykola Kuksenkov (Ukrainian: Микола Юлійович Куксенков; Russian: Николай Юльевич Куксенков, born 2 June 1989) is a Russian (since 2013) and former Ukrainian (until 2012) gymnast.[1]
Personal life
Kuksenkov was born on 2 June 1989 in Kiev. He received Russian citizenship on 23 April 2013.[2]
Career
For Ukraine
Kuksenkov was member of the junior Ukrainian team that won team gold at the European Championships. In 2008, He finished 4th in all-around at the 2008 European Championships, Kuksenkov missed qualifying in the Ukrainian Team for the 2008 Summer Olympics because of an injury where he underwent surgery and took a while for the recovery. He won gold in All-around and silver in Horizontal Bar at the 2011 Summer Universiade. He won bronze medal in All-around at the 2011 European Championships.
He competed for Ukraine's national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men's artistic team all-around and the Men's artistic individual all-around.[3] The Ukrainian team, consisting of Kuksenkov, Igor Radivilov, Vitalii Nakonechnyi, Oleg Stepko and Oleg Verniaiev finished in 4th place in the team final. They were initially awarded 3rd position although a successful appeal from the Japanese team over one of their athletes scores resulted in Japan being promoted from 4th to 2nd place, displacing Ukraine from the medals.[4] In the individual final Kuksenkov also finished in 4th position, again just missing out on a medal.[3]
For Russia
In December of 2012, Kuksenkov decided to switch to the Russian team for family reasons.[5] Now competing for Russia, he returned to international competition at the 2013 Summer Universiade, in Kazan. Kuksenkov, alongside the Russian team (Emin Garibov, David Belyavskiy, Denis Ablyazin and Nikita Ignatyev) won Russia the team gold medal. He won gold medal in Pommel Horse and defended his All-around title in Kazan winning another gold medal.
In May 19-25, at the 2014 European Championships in Sofia, Kuksenkov contributed scores of 15.133 (pommel horse), 15.066 (rings), 14.866 (parallel bar) and 14.833 (horizontal bar) for Russia and along with teammates (Denis Ablyazin, Aleksandr Balandin, Nikita Ignatyev, David Belyavskiy) won Russia the Team Event gold medal with a total score of 267.959 ahead of Great Britain. At the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, Kuksenkov also competed along teammates (Denis Ablyazin, David Belyavskiy, Nikita Ignatyev, Daniil Kazachkov and Ivan Stretovich) with Team Russia finishing 5th in the Team Final.
In June 2015, Kuksenkov competed in the 2015 European Games, winning gold in the Team Competition (with teammates David Belyavskiy and Nikita Ignatyev).[6]
In April 2016, Kuksenkov became the subject of turmoil with the news spreading that he had tested positive for meldonium in a failed drugs test.[7] The announcement came a day after he was crowned the Russian National champion,[8] leading to his withdrawal from the remainder of the competition.[9] Additionally, Kuksenkov's fate of participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is in jeopardy.[10]
Competitive history
| Year | Event | Team | AA | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | World Championships | 21st | |||||||
| 2009 | World Championships | 9th | |||||||
| 2010 | World Championships | 4th | |||||||
| 2011 | European Championships | 3rd | 4th | 6th | |||||
| World Championships | 5th | 7th | |||||||
| 2012 | Olympic Games | 4th | 4th | ||||||
| 2013 | Universiade | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||||
| World Championships | |||||||||
| 2014 | European Championships | 1st | 4th | 5th | |||||
| World Championships | 5th | 9th | 8th | 6th | |||||
| 2015 | National Championships | 1st | 2nd | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | ||
| European Championships | 11th | ||||||||
| European Games | 1st |
References
- ↑ "Medal Count - Olympic Results & Medalists - IOC". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ http://fcp-press.ru/news/p2_articleid/7331
- 1 2 "Mykola Kuksenkov". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ↑ "Olympics gymnastics: Team bronze for Britain after appeal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ↑ Sputnik (12 November 2012). "Gymnast Kuksenkov Switches to Russia - Coach". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ "I. EUROPEAN GAMES 2015 - Men's Artistic Gymnastics Competitions". gymmedia.com. gymmedia. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ↑ "AFP: Gymnastics - Russian Kuksenkov positive for meldonium". uatoday.tv. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ "Top Russian gymnast Nikolai Kuksenkov fails drug test as meldonium found in sample". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ "Russia's best male gymnast Nikolai Kuksenkov fails drug test for meldonium". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ Amanda Turner. "International Gymnast Magazine Online - Kuksenkov Scratches Russian Nationals After Positive Doping Test for Meldonium". International Gymnast Magazine Online. Retrieved 3 April 2016.