Hennadiy Avdyeyenko

Who is Hennadiy Avdyeyenko?

Hennadiy Valentynovych Avdyeyenko is a retired high jumper who represented the USSR and later Ukraine. He trained at the Armed Forces sports society in Odessa. He won gold medals at both the Olympics and the World Championships.

Avdyeyenko entered the 1983 World Championships as an unknown. His personal best was only 2.25 m and he had placed 6th at the main tryout meeting, the 1983 Spartakiad; however, high jump coach Kęstutis Šapka and team coach Igor Ter-Ovanesyan lobbied to have him included in the team. In the World Championship final, up against thirteen athletes with bests of 2.30 m or better, Avdyeyenko improved his personal best by 7 centimetres to win an unexpected gold medal, beating the United States' Tyke Peacock on countback.

Avdyeyenko placed second at the 1987 World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, jumping a new personal best of 2.38 m but losing to teammate Igor Paklin in a jump-off. He won another silver medal at the outdoor championships that year, again jumping 2.38 m and tying with Paklin; this time the tie didn't have to be broken, as Patrik Sjöberg won on countback and the gold medal was thus not at stake.