A boy from the factory outskirts of Mariupol was extraordinarily talented in sports. The war almost destroyed his career, as well as himself: Viktor Chukarin went through 17 concentration camps in order to then receive 11 Olympic medals.

Viktor Ivanovich Chukarin was taciturn and rarely smiled. He did not like to recall what had fallen to his lot. He very much disliked talking about his past during the war years. And this past was terrible. For several years, Viktor Chukarin wore the number №10491 instead of a name. He went through many Nazi concentration camps, survived in the infamous Buchenwald, and miraculously escaped death on a barge intended for sinking.

Victor Chukarin was born on November 9, 1921, in the village of Krasnoarmeyskoye in the south of the Donetsk region. The boy's father was a Don Cossack, and his mother was Greek. Soon, the family moved to Mariupol, where the growing Vitya went to school. One of the teachers, Vitaly Polikarpovich Popovich, was passionate about artistic gymnastics and instilled a love for this sport in his students. The teacher's passion for gymnastics was passed on to Victor, although at first Chukarin was more interested in football. After school, Chukarin entered the Mariupol Metallurgical Technical School and continued to engage in sports there. Realizing that gymnastics was the calling of his life, the young man transferred to the Kyiv Physical Education Technical School.

When the war began, Victor had just graduated from the technical school. The 19-year-old young man volunteered for the front. Chukarin fought in the artillery unit of the 1044th Rifle Regiment of the 289th Rifle Division. But Chukarin did not have to fight for long: in the battle near Poltava, he was wounded, concussed, and taken prisoner. Thus began Victor's wanderings through concentration camps. In total, Chukarin was in 17 death camps, the most terrible of which was Buchenwald. But even enduring hunger, diseases, hard labor, beatings, and humiliations, Victor did not forget about his dream of becoming an outstanding gymnast. Chukarin secretly watched the sports activities of Nazi officers, memorizing exercises (at that time, gymnastics was a cult sport in Germany, and German athletes were considered the strongest in the world). After the fall of Berlin, the fascists tried to get rid of evidence of their atrocities by destroying witnesses. The prisoners of the camp, among whom was Chukarin, were loaded onto a barge with the aim of sinking it at sea. However, the doomed were saved; a British patrol boat intercepted the vessel with the prisoners.

In the fall of 1945, Viktor managed to make it home. His mother didn’t recognize the emaciated young man who weighed only 40 kg. She only believed it was really her son when she saw the old scar on his head. Despite his terrible physical condition, Chukarin decided to return to sports and even enrolled in the Lviv Institute of Physical Education. At first, his muscles wouldn’t obey him — Viktor couldn’t even do five pull-ups. But little by little, his strength began to return. Chukarin decided to compete in the first post-war USSR Championship in 1946. He was disappointed — only 12th place. The athlete didn’t give up, and a year later, he placed fifth, and in 1948, the 27-year-old Viktor Chukarin became the USSR champion for the first time. The following year, the athlete won the title of absolute champion of the country and held this title for two more years.

In 1952, Soviet athletes participated in the Olympic Games for the first time. Chukarin could not miss this event and began preparing for the Helsinki Olympics, even though he was already 31 years old at the time. Chukarin did not disappoint — he became a four-time Olympic champion, winning gold in the all-around, on pommel horse, and in vault, as well as taking two silver medals on rings and parallel bars. In the team competition, Soviet athletes also became champions.(For reference: Viktor Chukarin won four golds and two silvers at those Games, and the Soviet men's gymnastics team indeed took the team gold.)

After the triumph in Helsinki, everyone expected Chukarin to retire. But the champion had his own plans. He was firmly determined not to stop at what he had achieved. As early as 1954, he became a three-time world champion. And in 1956, he went to the Olympics in Melbourne again. The main rivals of the Soviet athletes were the Japanese, led by the young Takashi Ono. A fierce battle unfolded for the team gold, but the USSR team managed to defend first place. The fight for the all-around title developed even more dramatically. When the Japanese gymnast scored 9.85 points on parallel bars, most people thought the victory would go to him. To surpass Takashi Ono, Chukarin needed to score at least 9.55 points in the final apparatus. The problem was that floor exercise was the last event — and it was the one that had always been the biggest challenge for Viktor. Stepping onto the mat, Chukarin performed flawlessly, and the scoreboard displayed the coveted 9.55 points. Chukarin won gold in the all-around and on parallel bars. To his top awards at these Olympics, Viktor added a silver medal in floor exercise and a bronze in pommel horse.

After his stunning victory in Melbourne, Viktor Chukarin decided to retire from his sporting career, leaving undefeated and with 11 Olympic medals to his name: 7 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze. Over the 120-year history of the Olympics, only 17 athletes have managed to win 7 or more Olympic gold medals in their career. Among Soviet/Russian athletes, only gymnast Larisa Latynina (with 9 golds) surpassed Chukarin, while gymnasts Boris Shakhlin and Nikolai Andrianov matched his achievement. After leaving big-time sports, Viktor Ivanovich worked as a coach.

Viktor Chukarin died on August 25, 1984, in Lviv following a long illness. He was laid to rest at Lychakiv Cemetery.

Artemus Vazhui