It was a short message from the legendary Norwegian speed skater Oscar Mathisen, reading "Congratulations. Oscar Mathisen." – written just one year before Mathisen's death.
Oleg Kalugin | Oleg Gazmanov | Oleg Mityaev | Oleg Kagan | Oleg Deripaska | Oleg Menshikov | Oleg Maisenberg | Oleg Kulik | Oleg Caetani | Oleg Yefremov | Oleg Strizhenov | Oleg Grabar | Oleg Goncharenko | Oleg Firsov | Oleg Vyugin | Oleg Timchenko | Oleg Tabakov | Oleg Pungin | Oleg Popov | Oleg Ostapenko | Oleg Maslennikov | Oleg Malov | Oleg Litvinenko | Oleg Khlevniuk | Oleg Kashin | Oleg I of Ryazan | Oleg Igorevich Marichev | Oleg Gordievsky | Oleg D. Jefimenko | Oleg Aleksandrovich Smirnov |
Among the best Soviet skaters of that time were Oleg Goncharenko and Boris Shilkov, who had taken one gold medal each and one silver medal each at the World Allround Championships of 1953 and 1954, making them the favourites at the 1954 European Allround Championships that followed.
His best season was 1958, when he won the overall silver medal in both the European Championships at Eskilstuna and in the World Championships at Helsinki, on both occasions trailing just behind Oleg Goncharenko.