Lillehammer, 19 February 1994. XVII Olympic Winter Games. Viktor PETRENKO of the Ukraine (4th) after the men's figure skating competition at Hamar. Credit : IOC Olympic Museum Collections/Claude JennyBorn: 27 June 1969
Birthplace: Odessa (Ukraine)
Nationality: Ukraine
Sport: Skating
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Calgary 1988
Albertville 1992
Lillehammer 1994
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 1
Bronze: 1
Other results:
World Championships
Gold 1: (1992)
Silver 2: (1990, 1991)
Winning in the Long Run
In 1988, Viktor Petrenko finished third in men's figure skating. He hoped to achieve even more at the next Olympics in Albertville in 1992. However, Petrenko had a difficult history to overcome. At the last two world championships, in 1990 and 1991, he had ranked first after the short program, only to lose to Kurt Browning of Canada because Petrenko wilted towards the end of his long program.
Once again, in Albertville, he led after the short program, and once again he wilted in the second half of his long program, even falling once. But this time Browning also faltered and Petrenko was able to take away the gold medal. Petrenko competed in the Olympics one last time in 1994. Only ninth after the short program, he performed an excellent long program to finish in fourth place overall.
