DOB: April 12, 1981
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 70kg
Coaches: Lubov Miroshnichenko and Vyacheslav Evstratov
Personal best:
200 m - 22.56 (January 1, 1999)
400 m - 45.84 (Tula, July 24, 200 0)
800 m - 1:42.47 (Bruxelles, August 24, 2001)
1000 m - 2:17.40 (Nice, July 8, 2000)
1500 m - 3:43.24 (Tula, May 31, 2003)
Olympic games – gold/800 m (Athens, 2004)
Honors:
18th European Championships in Athletics – 7th place/SF, 400 m/46.04 (München, August 7, 2002)
3rd European Championships U23 – 1st place/400 m, 46.06 (Amsterdam, July 13, 2001)
11th IAAF World Indoor Championships – 3rd place/800 m, 1:47.38 (Moskva, March 12, 2006)
3rd IAAF World Athletics Final – 3rd place/800 m, 1:47.18 (Monaco, September 10, 2005)
10th IAAF World Championships in Athletics – 2nd place/800 m, 1:44.51 (Helsinki, august 14, 2005)
28th Olympic Games – 1st place/800 m, 1:44.45 (Athína, August 28, 2004)
1st IAAF World Athletics Final – 8th place/800 m, 1:47.42 (Monaco, September 13, 2003)
9th IAAF World Championships in Athletics – 2nd place/800 m, 1:44.84 (Paris Saint-Denis, August 31, 2003)
17th IAAF Grand Prix Final – 2nd place/800 m, 1:46.78 (Melbourne, September 9, 2001)
8th IAAF World Indoor Championships – 1st place/800 m, 1:44.49 (Lisboa, March 11, 2001)
27th Olympic Games – 6th place/800 m, 1:45.83 (Sydney, September 27, 2000)
European Indoor Championships – 1st place/800 m, 1:47.92 (Gent, February 27, 2000)
European Junior Championships – 1st place/800 m, 1:50.38 (Riga, August 8, 1999)
SPAR European Cup – 3rd place/1500 m, 3:50.99 (Bydgoszcz, June 19, 2004)
World Youth Games –1st place/800 m (1998)
National Indoor Championships Under 18 – 1st place/800 m (1998)
National Junior Indoor Championships – 1st place/400 m (1998-1999); 1st place/800 m (1999)
National Indoor Championships – 1st place/800 m 1999-2001-2004; 1st place/1500 m (2006)
European Cup – 1st place/800 m (1999); 1st place/800 m
National Championships – 1st place/800 m (2004)
His greatest result was the victory in the 800 m race at the Athens Olympics in 2004. He likes to sit back until the last 200 meters or so when he uses his great kick and endurance to catch up and often win. His 'late charge' is well known in the track circles and somewhat reminiscent of the tactics of Great Britain's Steve Cram. In the Olympics he employed the same strategy, coming from behind in the last 150 meters to take victory and beat out 800 meter ruler Wilson Kipketer, who was leading with only 20 meters to go but then faded to third.
Borzakovskiy's first major international success was a victory at the 2000 European Indoor Championships when he was only 18 years old. At the 2000 Summer Olympics he reached the 800m final, in which he made a tactical error and finished only sixth. In 2001 he won the World Indoor title over 800 m but decided not to participate in the World Championships in Edmonton. However, he was ranked No.1 in the world for 2001 with a time of 1:42.47. In 2002, Borzakovskiy ran the 400 m at the European Championships in Munich but lost in the early stages. The following season he picked up a silver medal over 800 m at the World Championships in Paris.
In the 2005 World Championships he took silver in the 800 m competition, overtaking everyone but Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi on the final straight. At the 2006 World Indoor Championships he won a bronze medal.
Very often Borzakovskiy has been severely criticised for his unorthodox running tactics, specially his habit of running well off the pace at the rear of the field.
The tactic started very early on in his career. As he was fast for his age group he was usually put in races in which his opponents were not only much older but physically stronger as well. Quite often the result was that Borzakovskiy was barged, kicked and elbowed during the contests, and as such his adopted tactics led to a smoother ride even if it meant leaving his main effort to the very end of the race.
