Career
His imposing physical appearance resulted in the nicknames "Igor the Terrible" and "The bear from Minsk". In Soviet times, he trained at Armed Forces sports society in Minsk. He finished eighth in the 1987 edition, having just recovered from an illness, and decided to skip the 1988 edition in favour of preparing for the Winter Olympics in Calgary that same year.
These, however, turned out to be a disappointment for him, finishing sixth on the 500 m, "only" third on his favourite 1000 m, and fourth on the 1500 m.
The remaining two World Sprint Championships he participated in, in 1990 and 1994, he finished third and sixth, respectively. His final two seasons, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Zhelezovski skated for Belarus.
After ending his skating career in 1994, Zhelezovski became president of the skating union of Belarus, a position he held for several years. World records
Over the course of his career, Zhelezovski skated four world records, one of which equalled Pavel Pegov"s six-year-old world record on the 1000 m:
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Zhelezovski skated his personal records.
Source: SpeedskatingResults.com.