European Athletics is very saddened to hear that Ukrainian hammer and coaching great Anatoliy Bondarchuk has died at the age of 85.
Bondarchuk won the 1969 European and 1972 Olympic hammer titles and also had the distinction of becoming the first athlete in history to break the 75 metre-barrier with a mark of 75.48m in 1969.
After retiring from competitive athletics following the 1976 Olympic Games, Bondarchuk turned his focus to coaching where he made a significant impact on both sides of the Atlantic.
Bondarchuk’s most famous protege was Yuriy Sedykh, who won Olympic hammer titles in 1980 and 1988 and still holds the world record with 86.74m which had stood since the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart.
Bondarchuk relocated to Canada in the mid-2000s and went on to coach many of their leading throwers, including three-time world and Olympic shot put medallist Dylan Armstrong and two-time Commonwealth hammer champion Sultana Frizell.
Bondarchuk’s enduring legacy on the event is such that he has also advised the current Olympic and world hammer champion Ethan Katzberg.