Viktor Zybulenko

Viktor Zybulenko 2012

athletics
bronze	1956	Javelin throw
gold	1960	Javelin throw

Viktor Sergeyevich Zybulenko ( Ukrainian Віктор Сергійович Цибуленко , Russian Виктор Сергеевич Цыбуленко , Eng. Transcription Viktor Tsybulenko * 13. July 1930 in Weprik ; † 19th October 2013 in Kiev ) was a Ukrainian athlete of the Soviet Union launched, and 1950 in and early 1960s as a javelin thrower was successful. The five-time Soviet champion won a bronze, a silver and a gold medal in his specialty, the latter at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome .

Career

Viktor Zybulenko wanted to be a train driver, but was only admitted to the Kiev vocational school for training as a repair mechanic after a medical examination revealed a heart defect. He resisted the sports ban and trained under Vladimir Koslowski discus throw and shot put before he finally got to the javelin throw. His new coach was Sossima Siniski (Зосима Синиский), who led him to win the first national championship in 1952.

At his first international appearances, the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki and the 1954 European Championships in Bern , he had to be content with fourth place, where he was twelve centimeters behind the Finn Toivo Hyytiäinen , the winner of the bronze medal, in Bern . Two years later, at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne , he made it onto the podium: His best distance of 79.50 m was rewarded with a bronze medal. But it was to get better. In Rome, at his third Olympic Games, he hurled the spear on the first attempt at the excellent distance of 84.64 m, which meant winning the gold medal with more than five meters ahead of the runner-up. At the end of his career he finally won a silver medal: At the European Championships in Belgrade in 1962 , he only had to admit defeat to the Latvian Jānis Lūsis .

Medals

• GOLD with 84.64 m ahead of Walter Krüger (silver with 79.36 m) and Gergely Kulcsár (bronze with 77.66 m) at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome .
• SILVER with 77.92 m behind Jānis Lūsis (gold with 82.04 m) and in front of Poland's Władysław Nikiciuk (bronze with 77.66 m) at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade .
• BRONZE with 79.50 m behind the Norwegian Egil Danielsen (gold with 85.71 m) and the Pole Janusz Sidło (silver with 79.98 m) at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne .

Performance development

year	1950	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1960	1962
Width (m)	73.37	71.72	74.93	73.98	75.85	79.89	83.34	77.78	84.64	78.92

Web links

• Цыбуленко Виктор ( Memento from May 26, 2006 in the Internet Archive )