The world record holder for the hammer (86.74 m) Yuriy Sedikh died on Tuesday, September 15, at the age of 66. The European Athletics Federation announced it.
The greatest hammer thrower in history
Considered the greatest hammer thrower in history, Sedikh, who later took Ukrainian nationality, broke the world record six times in his 15-year career, including one last time on August 30, 1986 in Stuttgart.
Double Olympic champion (1976, 1980) and 2nd in 1988 in Seoul, he won a world gold medal in 1991 in Tokyo and was crowned three times European champion (1978, 1982, 1986).
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He is one of the two throwers to have sent the hammer beyond 86 m with his compatriot Sergey Litvinov (86.04 m).
Yuriy Sedikh was accused of having used steroids during his career by Grigory Rodchenkov, former director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory behind the doping revelations organized in Russia between 2011 and 2015.
Deeply mourn the loss of Yuriy Sedykh…
An outstanding two-time Olympic Champion, whose fantastic World record in Hammer Throw (86.74) for 35 years is stll not broken.@worldolympians @WorldAthletics @iocmedia pic.twitter.com/ZBrqW8MeYV
– Sergey Bubka (@sergey_bubka) September 14, 2021
After his career, he moved to Ile-de-France with his second wife Natalya Lissovskaïa, still holder of the world record in the shot put (22.63 m).
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