Vyacheslav Vedenin
(IOC)
Updated: 2007-07-25 20:52
Grenoble, 7 February 1968. X Olympic Winter Games. Men's nordic skiing. Vyatcheslav VEDENIN of the Soviet Union, silver medallist in the 14th, in action. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections
Other names: VEDENINE, Viatcheslav
Born: 1 October 1941
Birthplace: Toula (Russia)
Nationality: Russia
Sport: Skiing
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Grenoble 1968
Sapporo 1972
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 2
Silver: 1
Bronze: 1
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 2 (70)
Silver: 1 (70)
Dramatic Cross-Country Relay Victory
On 4 February 1972, Vyacheslav Vedenin, who was only 1.63m tall, won the 30km cross-country race by 54.15 seconds. He was the first male Soviet skier to win a gold medal in an individual event. Six days later he added a bronze medal in the 50km contest, having previously gained a silver medal in 1968. This left Vedenin with one more race: the 4x10km relay. Four years earlier, at the 1968 Winter Olympics, Vedenin had anchored the Soviet relay team and missed a bronze medal when Finland's Eero M?ntyranta passed him just as they reached the finish line. In Sapporo, Vedenin was again chosen to be the Soviet anchor. This time he took over 61? seconds behind Johs Harviken of Norway. Vedenin gradually closed the gap, overtook Harviken one kilometre from the finish, and went on to win by just slightly more than 9 seconds.
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