Vladimir Yashchenko

Vladimir Yashchenko
Personal information
Full nameVladimir Ilyich Yashchenko
Born12 January 1959
Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Died30 November 1999(1999-11-30) (aged 40)
Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Sport
SportTrack and field
EventHigh jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)2.34 m
2.35 m (indoors)
Medal record
Representing the  Soviet Union
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1978 Prague High jump
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 1978 Milan High jump
Gold medal – first place 1979 Vienna High jump
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1977 Donetsk High jump

Vladimir Ilyich Yashchenko (Russian: Владимир Ильич Ященко) or Volodymyr Yashchenko (Ukrainian: Володимир Ященко) (12 January 1959 – 30 November 1999) was a Ukrainian member of the Soviet national team and former world record holder in the high jump (2.33 m, 2.34 m, and 2.35 m (7 ft 8+12 in).

Yashchenko first broke the record at age 18 with a jump of 2.33 m (7 ft 7+34 in), at the USA-USSR junior dual meet in June 1977 at Richmond, Virginia.[1][2] He won the 1978 European Championships high jump competition with a jump of 230 cm.[1] On 12 March 1978, he achieved the highest mark using the straddle technique.

In 1979, Yashchenko suffered a severe knee injury and his career was effectively over at age twenty;[3] he died from cirrhosis in 1999 at age forty.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Reineri, Giorgio (1999-12-01) Yashchenko, the last King of the Straddle. IAAF. Retrieved on 2019-10-11.
  2. ^ Clark, Marsh (1977-07-25) Just An Old-fashioned Lad. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  3. ^ Downes, Steven (1999-12-08) Obituary: Vladimir Yashchenko. The Independent. Retrieved 2019-10-11.