Jump to content

Veniamin Soldatenko

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Veniamin Soldatenko
Soldatenko in 1972
Personal information
Born4 January 1939 (1939-01-04)
Shkurovka, Beinetkorsky District, North Kazakhstan Region, Kazakh SSR, USSR[1]
Died15 July 2023 (2023-07-16) (aged 84)
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event50 km walk
ClubSKA Almaty
Achievements and titles
Personal best3:53:24 (1978)
Medal record
Representing the  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1972 Munich 50 km walk
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1976 Malmö 50 km walk

Veniamin Vasilievich Soldatenko (Russian: Вениамин Васильевич Солдатенко, 4 January 1939 – 15 July 2023) was a Soviet athlete who competed mainly in the 50 km walk. He acquired Kazakhstani citizenship after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Soldatenko took up athletics in 1962 and became a member of the USSR National Team in 1967.[1] He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and won the silver medal. He also won a silver medal at the 1970 World Race Walking Cup, a gold medal at the 1976 World Championships and bronze, gold and silver medals at the European Championships in 1969, 1971 and 1978, respectively. Soldatenko was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor in 1972.[1]

Soldatenko was the first ever IAAF world champion and remains the oldest male world champion in athletics, having taken his 50 km walk title at 37 years and 258 days.[2] In retirement he coached race walkers in his native Kazakhstan.[3]

Soldatenko died on 15 July 2023, at the age of 84.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Panorama of the 1972 Sports Year (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. 1973. p. 109.
  2. ^ IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013 (p. 20). IAAF/AFTS (2013). Edited by Mark Butler. Retrieved on 9 September 2013.
  3. ^ Veniamin Soldatenko. sports-reference.com
  4. ^ На 84-ом году жизни, скончался легендарный казахстанский спортсмен — первый легкоатлет, получивший медаль на Олимпийских Играх и рекордсмен мира Солдатенко Вениамин Васильевич (in Russian)