Virtuosos of the ball

3.6.2020

The Educational and Research Institute of Physical Education and Sports is proud of its Olympic graduates.

We continue the column on outstanding athletes, graduates of the Educational and Research Institute of Physical Education and Sports. The following in the section “Retro-Sport” are the international masters of sports of the USSR Anatolii Kuksov and Yurii Yeliseev, who, as part of the USSR national football team, won bronze medals of the XX Olympic Games in Munich – 1972.
Anatolii Kuksov and Yurii Yeliseev are players of the Luhansk football club “Zoria”, which in 1972 became the champion of the USSR. It was the triumph of the Luhansk team, which beat the capital’s clubs in the USSR Football Championship.

In 1976, the players completed their studies at the Voroshilovgrad Taras Shevchenko State Pedagogical Institute, Faculty of Physical Education, and received the qualification and title of physical education teacher.

Anatolii Kuksov in the history of Luhansk “Zoria” took 1st place in the number of matches played (570 in official tournaments) and second place in terms of the number of goals (97). He spent four matches in the European Cup, in which he scored one goal. According to sports journalists of the Luhansk region, he was awarded the best football player in the history of the Luhansk football club “Zoria”.

In 1972, he played 8 matches in the national team of the USSR (including 5 matches for the USSR Olympic team).

After completing his career, he worked as a coach. He was awarded with the medal “For Labor and Valor” in 2004. 

Yurii Yeliseev as a member of the Luhansk team “Zoria” played 8 seasons of the USSR Championship. As part of the USSR national team, he played 7 matches and scored 2 goals. At the Olympic Games in 1972 he played 3 matches and scored one goal in a meeting with the national team of Morocco.

After the end of his sports career, he worked as director of the Youth Sports School “Youth”, as a coach of the sports club “Zoria”. In 2000-2002 he was the head coach of the Luhansk football team “Zoria”. He worked in the Luhansk Regional Higher School of Physical Education.

We are proud of our Olympians and wish them good health, creative inspiration and active participation in the football life of the Luhansk region!

According to the Educational and Research Institute
of Physical Education and Sports