Yuri Sedykh Dies Aged 67 - September 14th 2021
Russian Hammer Thrower Yuri Sedykh Who Broke World record at 1984 Cork City Sports Dies
Tuesday September 14th 2021
Yuri Sedykh
Russian Olympic and World Champion Hammer thrower Yuri Sedykh was died aged 67. Russian newsagency TASS reported earlier today that he had suffered a heart attack
In an enthralling hammer competition at the 1984 Cork City Sports, Sedykh, along with his compatriot Sergey Litvinov, set the meet alight, throwing no less than 6 World Records between them in less than an hour
On a balmy summer’s evening on July 3rd 1984, at the Mardyke Arena, in the space of an incredible hour, the world record in the hammer was shattered six times by a pair of Soviet athletes.
Yuri returned, as a guest, to the 2015 Cork City Sports, and the following is the Cork Athletics report:
The Cork City Sports meet, began inauspiciously enough. Shortly before six o’clock, Sergei Litvinov, world record holder and reigning world champion, stepped into the circle and fouled off his opening throw. A few minutes later, his compatriot Yuri Sedykh, gold medallist at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, picked up his hammer and launched his first effort 86.34 meters. The 29 year old had gone 2.20m past the mark of 84.14 established by Litvinov 13 months previously, and set the craziness in motion.
Since 1980, the Soviet pair had dominated the event and swapped ownership of the world record four times in that spell. Taking full advantage of the perfect throwing conditions on a glorious summer’s evening, Litvinov’s second throw of 85.14m was a remarkable response to his comrade. A personal best, it would have been a new world record itself half an hour earlier.
However, this was to be Sedykh’s night. His second attempt was another massive throw, measured at 85.98m. His third throw went through the 85m mark and even his last legal throw was 84.16. In reply, the best of Litvinov’s remaining throws was 84.64m. He’d twice thrown better than the world record, yet his comrade had gone better than the old world record with four of this throws.
For this performance, Sedykh was judged to be the athlete of the meet, an accolade for which he was awarded the US Ambassador’s Cup.
Sedykh stated afterwards. “I think there is no limit to man’s ability. It’s good to be back in the land where the hammer event was started. The warmth of the spectators is something I will always remember from my visit to Cork.”
Sedykh and Litvinov ran a joint lap of honour on the track and received a tumultuous reception from the capacity crowd.
“We were delighted,” said Owen O’Callaghan whose company, O’Callaghan Properties, had sponsored the hammer event. “ we brought Sedykh out on the town that night to experience some Cork hospitality.”
When reporters asked Sedykh whether his record was likely to be broken at the Olympics, he answered with an emphatic ‘No’. He was correct on that score. It stood for almost two years until he broke it again by going 86.66m at an international athletics meeting in Tallinn, Estonia. A silver medallist in Seoul in 1988, he moved to Paris following the break-up of the Soviet Union. Still the owner of the world record, he now travels the world giving throwing clinics
Unlike many hammer throwers Sedykh threw off three rotations rather than four. He felt three rotations were sufficient. With this technique he won gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics and 1980 Summer Olympics as well as taking first at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1991 World Championships in Athletics.
Tony O’Connell, chairman of Cork City Sports states that “Everyone has fond memories of the night 32 years ago that the world hammer record was broken six times at Cork City Sports. It is great to have Yuriy Sedykh back in Cork so that we can once again honour the man and recollect that famous night once more.”
Tass Reports Death of Yuri Sedykh, Tuesday Sept 14th 2021
Two-time Olympic champion in the hammer throw Yuri Sedykh has died
Yuri Sedykh, 1986
He was 67 years old, the world record set in 1986 by a track and field athlete remains unsurpassed to this day
The king of the hammer. Two-time Olympic champion Yuri Sedykh Photo: Yuri Nabatov/TASS
TASS, September 14. The winner of two Olympiads in hammer throwing competitions, Yuri Sedykh, died at the age of 67. This was announced on Twitter by the first vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations Sergey Bubka.
"We deeply mourn the loss of Yuri Sedykh. An outstanding two-time Olympic champion, whose fantastic world record in the hammer throw is still not broken, " Bubka wrote.
According to the press service of the All-Russian Athletics Federation, on Tuesday morning, Yuri had a heart attack.
Sedykh was the winner of the Olympic Games in 1976 and 1980, and also has Silver medal from 1988 Games to his credit. He has one gold and one silver medal from the World Championships to his credit. He was also a three-time European champion.
