Rowing for Gold

Rowing for Gold (Russian: Первый на Олимпе) is a 2025 Russian sports war film directed by Artyom Mikhalkov, tells the story of Soviet rower Yuriy Tyukalov, played by Gleb Kalyuzhny. The film is based on real events and tells the story of how the athlete survived the Siege of Leningrad and subsequently became the first Soviet Olympic champion in rowing.^[2][3]

Rowing for Gold
Directed by	Artyom Mikhalkov (ru)
Written by	Mikhail Zubko
Produced by	Yasmina Ben Ammar Mariya Grechishnikova Vadim Vereshchagin Andrey Tartakov Anton Zlatopolsky (ru) Natalya Gorina Platon Emikh Marina Gurtovaya Nataliya Ivanov
Starring	Gleb Kalyuzhny (ru) Andrey Smolyakov Artyom Bystrov Elena Lyadova Vladimir Ilin Aleksey Kravchenko Anton Filipenko Irina Pautva Ivan Stebunov
Cinematography	Sergey Machilskiy
Music by	Ivan Burlyayev Dmitry Noskov Konstantin Kupriyanov Ilya Marfin
Production companies	Central Partnership Productions Star Media Russia-1 Cinema Fund
Distributed by	Central Partnership
Release dates	October 1, 2025 (2025-10-01) (Moscow) October 9, 2025 (2025-10-09) (Russia)
Running time	107 minutes
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Budget	₽800 million
Box office	₽245 million[1]

Rowing for Gold premiered at the "Karo 11 October" at Arbat Square in Moscow on October 1, 2025, and was theatrically released in Russia on October 9, by Central Partnership.^[4]

Plot

The film tells the story of a young man named Yura Tyukalov, who, after surviving the war, turned to sports. He met with coaches who helped him start anew. Now, he has a goal: to win a gold medal at the Olympics.^[5]

Cast

• Gleb Kalyuzhny as Yuriy Tyukalov, a rower
• Andrey Smolyakov as Ivan Kolosov, an experienced coach
• Artyom Bystrov as Mikhail Savrimovich, a coach
• Elena Lyadova as Vera Savrimovich, a coach
• Vladimir Ilin as Ilyich (or Ilich), a guard and Yura Tyukalov's mentor
• Aleksey Kravchenko as Colonel Levitin
• Anton Filipenko as Sergey Petrovich
• Irina Pautova as Shura Chirikova, Yura Tyukalov's girlfriend
• Ivan Stebunov as Pavel, Shura's fried
• Anton Savvatimov as Sokolov
• Aleksey Timoshenko as Solyanykh
• Ilya Yakubovsky as Ivanitsky
• Guram Bablishvili as Chikhladze
• Ilya Gontash as Makarov
• Timofey Motoshim as Petrov

Production

Directed by Artyom Mikhalkov

Filming

Principal photography began in August 2024, in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast, Vyborg, Moscow and Sochi.^[6]

Release

Theatrical

Rowing for Gold had its world premiere took place on October 1, 2025, at their “Karo 11 October” cinema center on New Arbat Avenue in Moscow. The film was released in the Russian Federation on October 9, by Central Partnership.