Nikolay Gulyayev trained at
Armed Forces sports society in
Moscow. Skating for the
Soviet Union, his first international appearance was in 1986 at the
European Allround Championships in
Oslo. Gulyayev debuted with a 5th place in the tournament won by
Dutchman Hein Vergeer and impressed with a 2nd-place finish on the 1,500 metres. In 1987, he was at the top of the international skating field. In January, he won the European Championships in
Trondheim, in front of
Michael Hadschieff and Hein Vergeer. Gulyayev held his form until the
World Allround Championships in
Heerenveen. At these championships, the first to be held in a climate-controlled indoor stadium, he was the first to achieve an overall point total (
samalog) below 160.000 points, finishing before fellow countryman
Oleg Bozhev and the
Austrian Michael Hadschieff. His samalog
World Record of 159.356 stood for 4 years before being broken by
Johann Olav Koss at the same venue. In Heerenveen he also set the 1,500 metres world record at 1:52.70. For his achievements that year, he received the
Oscar Mathisen Award. His performance at the World Championships in Heerenveen put him in first place on the
Adelskalender, the all-time allround speedskating ranking, displacing his compatriot
Viktor Shasherin, until, at the
1988 Winter Olympics, Austrian skater Michael Hadschieff took over first place, followed a few days later by
Eric Flaim from the
United States. Gulyayev was number one in the Adelskalender for 364 days and in the top 10 from February 1987 until January 1994. For the
1988 Winter Olympics in
Calgary, he was a favourite for the 1,500 metres and he was also considered to have a chance for a medal in the 1,000 metres, especially after he won both distances at the World Cup in
Inzell, one month before the start of the games. But in the same month, he got caught trying to
smuggle 700 capsules of
Dianabol, an
anabolic steroid. Because of this, he did not defend his European and World titles. Since he never tested positive for steroid use, the
IOC could not refuse Gulyayev participation in the 1988 Winter Olympics. He then did compete in Calgary, but under close scrutiny. In the first distance he participated in, the 500 metres, Gulyayev did not finish because of a fall. Four days later, in the 1,000 metres, despite a strong field of sprinters, he won the gold medal by setting the Olympic 1,000 metre record at 1:13.03, leaving
Uwe-Jens Mey and
Igor Zhelezovski behind. Two days later, he was favoured at the 1,500 metres, but he finished only 7th. After those Olympics, Gulyayev found himself incapable of competing at the top level of international allround speed skating, so he switched his focus to the shorter sprinting distances. At the
1992 Winter Olympics in
Albertville he tried to defend his 1,000 metres title, but he did not get further than the 8th place. In March 1992, he became the Russian Sprint Champion in
Kolomna in front of the young
Sergey Klevchenya. Gulyayev had to end his speed skating career because of back problems. These days, he is vice-president of the Russian Speed Skating Federation. His reorganisations may have contributed to Olympic medals at the
2006 Winter Olympics for
Dmitry Dorofeyev en
Svetlana Zhurova. His aim was to sign on
Peter Mueller as the new coach of the Russian team after the Olympics. ==Records==