 In a late 2006 interview, Andrey said he was the younger son of working-class parents and that he got into athletics as a boy, inspired by the triple-jumping exploits of an older brother.He quickly realized that his height was an advantage in the high jump.After winning the Russian Under-23 Indoor title in Moscow in 2005 – with a jump of 2.24 m – he was asked to join an elite-level group of Russian jumpers training under coach Yevgeniy Zagorulko.