Igor Novikov

Igor Aleksandrovich Novikov (, 19 October 1929 – 30 August 2007) was a Soviet modern pentathlete and Olympic Champion. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, where he won a gold medal in the team competition (together with Aleksandr Tarasov and Ivan Deriuhin. He won a silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, and he competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where he won a gold medal in the team competition (together with Albert Mokeyev and Viktor Mineyev), and a silver medal in the individual competition.

When Novikov was 5 years old, his family moved from Russia to Armenia and lived there for decades. The whole family practised a wide range of sports at different levels. His father was an amateur football player and sports shooter. Brother Boris was a heavyweight boxer and a regional champion. Another brother Vladimir competed in football, swimming and boxing. Sister Lyudmila played volleyball and climbed mountains, and the other sister Zhenya was Armenian champion in artistic gymnastics for several years.

After retiring from competitions, Novikov worked as a modern pentathlon coach and administrator, in Armenia and then in Russia. Between 1977 and 1991 he was president of the Soviet Modern Pentathlon Federation, and from 1988 to 1992 president of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne.