{{Short description|Soviet racing cyclist (1971–2005)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox cyclist | name = Dmitry Nelyubin | image = | caption = | fullname = | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1971|2|8|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Leningrad]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2005|1|1|1971|2|8|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia]] | height = | weight = | currentteam = | discipline = | role = | ridertype = | amateuryears1 = | amateurteam1 = | proyears1 = | proteam1 = | majorwins = | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's [[cycle sport|cycling]] }} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{MedalCompetition | [[Cycling at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] }} {{MedalGold | [[1988 Summer Olympics|1988 Seoul]] | [[Cycling at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's team pursuit|Team pursuit]]}} | show-medals = yes | updated = }}
'''Dmitry Nelyubin''' ({{langx|ru|Дмитрий Владиславович Нелюбин}}, 8 February 1971 – 1 January 2005) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-[[Russian Federation|Russian]] [[track cycling|track cyclist]]. At the age of 17 Nelyubin, together with teammates [[Viatcheslav Ekimov]], [[Artūras Kasputis]] and [[Gintautas Umaras]], won the [[Cycling at the 1988 Summer Olympics|4000 meter team pursuit]] event at the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] held in [[Seoul]].<ref name="SportsRef">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ne/dmitry-nelyubin-1.html |title=Dmitry Nelyubin Olympic Results |access-date=9 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103055/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ne/dmitry-nelyubin-1.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Nelyubin was killed in a street fight on the New Year night of 1 January 2005. Murder suspects, natives of [[Kabardino-Balkaria]], were arrested four years later, in December 2008; the trial began in May 2009 and in September 2009 the jury declared one of the suspects guilty of murder.
==Sports career== Dmitry was a son of cyclist [[Vladislav Nelyubin]] (born 1947), participant of the [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Olympic Games]] in [[Mexico]].<ref name=SPBT/> Dmitry spent his school years at the Locomotiv Sports Society boarding school for Olympic prospects, with four training events every day, in any weather.<ref>{{ cite book | author=Volkov, V. Ye (editor) | title=Locomotivu 50 (in Russian) | year=1988 | publisher=Moscow: Fizkultura i sport | url=http://www.lokomotiv.info/publish/lokomotiv50/?id=147 | access-date=2009-05-10 }}</ref> His most remarkable achievement, winning the 4000 meter team pursuit at the 1988 Olympics,<ref>{{cite web | title=4000 meter team pursuit statistics, 1920-2004 | url=http://www.abc.net.au/olympics/2008/results/historical/events/220.htm | work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] | access-date=2009-05-10 }}</ref> happened when he was only 17, making him the youngest Olympic champion in cycling. At the [[1992 Summer Olympics]] Nelyubin competed for the [[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]] of the defunct Soviet Union, coming sixth.<ref name=SPBT/> Nelyubin continued cycling professionally until 1997 with no significant achievements.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.velonews.com/article/7359 | title=Tuesday's EuroFile: Dajka back on track; Nelyubin killed in Russia | publisher=velonews.com, 5 January 2005 | access-date=2009-05-10 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Murder and investigation== At about 5 a.m. of 1 January 2005 Dmitry and a party of his friends went outdoors to launch fireworks at the corner of Lva Tolstogo Street and Rentgena Street in central Saint Petersburg.<ref name=SPBT>{{cite web | url=http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=27793 | title=4 Suspects Arrested In Olympian's Murder | publisher=The St. Petersburg Times, 9 December 2008 | access-date=2009-05-10 }}</ref> A group of aggressive young men confronted Nelyubin's party, a fight broke out. Nelyubin was stabbed in the stomach and fell on the snow; the attackers fled the scene. Emergency medics appeared on the scene half an hour after the attack; after four hours of hospital surgery Nelyubin died of a blood loss at 11:40<ref name=VZ>{{cite web | url=http://www.vz.ru/society/2009/5/8/284860.html | title=Ubil bez vidimogo povoda | publisher=[[Novy Vzglyad|Vzglyad]], 8 May 2009 | language=ru | access-date=2009-05-10 }}</ref> of the same day.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/crimes/11-01-2005/7579-cyclist-0 | title=Dmitry Nelyubin was the youngest Olympic champion among male cyclists | date=11 January 2005 | publisher=[[Pravda]], 11 January 2005 | access-date=2009-05-10 }}</ref>
Initial police search of nearby hostels correctly identified two principal suspects, students of a medical college, who had already fled the city.<ref name=GA/> First arrest happened in May 2008 in [[Dagestan]].<ref name=VZ/> In the beginning of December, 2008, investigators reported arrest of four suspects, identified initially only as "natives of Kabardino-Balkaria".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.aol.co.nz/movies/story/4-suspects-arrested-in-Nelyubin-killing/1410011/index.html | title=4 suspects arrested in Nelyubin killing | publisher=Associated Press, 8 December 2008 | access-date=2009-05-10 }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Later, names of three suspects were released to the public; name of the fourth, still a minor, remains undisclosed. According to initial prosecution statements released in December 2008, the murder suspect "had mistaken Nelyubin for a [[skinhead]]"; "he [the suspect] admitted to be present at the murder scene and confessed that he did have a knife on him but claims he does not remember how the incident progressed and ended".<ref name=SPBT/>
In May 2009 the case against two of the suspects was deemed completed and passed to the court (only one of the suspects is charged with murder).<ref name=VZ/> According to the prosecution, the crime had no direct motives,<ref name=VZ/><ref name=GA/> thus no [[hate crime]] clauses were invoked. However, the suspects insist that the attack, indeed, had a motive: they mistook Nelyubin for a [[neo-nazi]]. According to the suspects, on the New Year night one of their friends was beaten by skinheads and called for help; they ran out of the hostel and attacked Nelyubin party, believing that these were the alleged skinheads.<ref name=GA>{{cite web | url=http://www.gazeta.ru/social/2009/05/08/2984348.shtml | title=Ubiystvo chempiona peredano v sud | publisher=[[gazeta.ru]], 8 May 2005 | access-date=2009-05-10 }}</ref>
The trial of Azhagoev brothers ended in September 2009. The jury found one of them guilty of murder, based primarily on statements by witnesses; defence said they would apply for an appellation.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1239096&NodesID=6 | title=Ubiystvo chempiona... (Убийство чемпиона обошлось без вещественных доказательств) | language=ru | publisher=[[Kommersant]], 17 November 2009 | access-date=2009-09-17 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions Track Team Pursuit Men}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelyubin, Dmitry}} [[Category:1971 births]] [[Category:2005 deaths]] [[Category:Soviet male cyclists]] [[Category:Olympic cyclists for the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Olympic cyclists for the Unified Team]] [[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union]] [[Category:Cyclists at the 1988 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:People murdered in Russia]] [[Category:Olympic medalists in cycling]] [[Category:Russian male cyclists]] [[Category:Cyclists from Saint Petersburg]] [[Category:Deaths by stabbing in Russia]] [[Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Russian track cyclists]] [[Category:Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery]] [[Category:20th-century Russian sportsmen]]