Hennadiy Valentynovych Avdyeyenko ( Ukrainian: Геннадій Валентинович Авдєєнко) (born November 4, 1963, in Odessa) is a retired high jumper who represented the USSR and later Ukraine. He trained at the Armed Forces sports society in Odessa. [1] He won gold medals at both the Olympics and the World Championships.
Avdyeyenko entered the 1983 World Championships as an unknown. His personal best was only 2.25 m and he had placed 6th at the main tryout meeting, the 1983 Spartakiad; however, high jump coach Kęstutis Šapka and team coach Igor Ter-Ovanesyan lobbied to have him included in the team. [2] In the World Championship final, up against thirteen athletes with bests of 2.30 m or better, Avdyeyenko improved his personal best by 7 centimetres to win an unexpected gold medal, beating the United States' Tyke Peacock on countback. [2]
Avdyeyenko placed second at the 1987 World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, jumping a new personal best (and Soviet indoor record) of 2.38 m but losing to teammate Igor Paklin in a jump-off. [3] [4] He won another silver medal at the outdoor championships that year, again jumping 2.38 m and tying with Paklin; this time the tie did not have to be broken, as Patrik Sjöberg won on countback and the gold medal was thus not at stake. [5]
Avdyeyenko then won another gold at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, in the absence of Cuba's world record holder Javier Sotomayor, whose country boycotted the Olympics. [6] He jumped 2.38 m yet again, and this time he was the only jumper to clear that height. [6]
Avdyeyenko graduated from Odessa Polytechnic Institute and worked as an expert in refrigerating equipment. [1]
Year | Tournament | Venue | Result | Extra |
---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 1st | 2.32 PB |
1987 | European Indoor Championships | Liévin, France | 3rd | |
World Indoor Championships | Indianapolis, United States | 2nd | ||
World Championships | Rome, Italy | 2nd | 2.38 PB | |
1988 | Summer Olympics | Seoul, South Korea | 1st | 2.38 equal PB |