Andrey Silnov

Who is Andrey Silnov?

Andrey Alexandrovich Silnov is a Russian high jumper and the 2008 Olympic champion. Born in Shakhty, Rostov Oblast, he is 1.98 m and weighs 83 kg.

In a late 2006 interview, Andrey said he was the younger son of working-class parents and that he got into Athletics as a boy, inspired by the Triple Jumping exploits of an older brother. He quickly realized that his height was an advantage in the High Jump. After winning the Russian Under-23 Indoor title in Moscow in 2005 – with a jump of 2.24 – he was asked to join an elite-level group of Russian jumpers training under coach Yevgeniy Zagorulko.

Silnov burst onto the world scene in 2006, when he won the gold medal at the 2006 European Championships with a jump of 2.36 metres, improving the old championship record which was set by Steinar Hoen with 2.35 m in 1994. A week after the European Championships Silnov jumped 2.37 metres in Monaco. This was the world leading jump in 2006 by a comfortable margin.

Indoors, he has made much of his progression at the Hochsprung mit Musik, setting personal bests in 2006 and 2007 before setting his current best of 2.37 to win the competition.