Mikhail Kaaleste (born Mihail Stoljarov; 20 August 1931 – 5 May 2018) was an Estonian sprint canoeist who competed in 1950s. He won a silver medal in the K-2 1000 m event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.
Kaaleste changed his last name in 1940 from Stoljarov. Originally going into cross-country skiing, he was changed to sprint canoeing by his coaches at Dynamo Sports Club. After winning a silver medal in Melbourne, Kaaleste won two bronze medals at the 1958 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Prague (K-2 1000 m, K-4 1000 m). He also won several medals in the Soviet Union in cross-country skiing in the 1950s.
In 1964, he became coach for the Dynamo Leningrad biathlon and cross-country skiing. Kaaleste's wife, Anna, finished ninth in the 10 km cross-country skiing event at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
References
External links
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007 at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-01-05)
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-11-09)
- Sports-reference.com profile
