{{Short description|Soviet athlete (1955–2021)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Yuriy Sedykh | image = Yuriy Sedykh.jpg | image_size = <!--Only for images narrower than 220 pixels.--> | caption = | fullname = Yuriy Georgiyevich Sedykh | native_name = {{langx|ru|Ю́рий Гео́ргиевич Седы́х}}<br>{{langx|uk|Юрій Георгійович Сєдих}} | native_name_lang = | years active = 1976–1995<ref name=retires>[https://www.espn.com/olympics/news/story?id=6656627 86.74 is going to stand for a long time]. espn.com</ref> | nationality = Soviet Union<ref name=nationality>[https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/world-hammer-record-holder-yuriy-sedykh-dies-1039949648/ World hammer record-holder Yuriy Sedykh dies]. Athletics Weekly</ref><ref name="ESPN Ukrainian home town">{{cite web |title=Mag: The untouchable hammer throw record |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/news/story?id=6656627 |website=ESPN.com |access-date=20 April 2022 |language=en |date=13 June 2011}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date|1955|06|11|df=y}}<ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/se/yury-sedykh-1.html |title=Yury Sedykh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724112958/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/se/yury-sedykh-1.html |archive-date=2009-07-24}}</ref><ref name="Khavin">{{cite book|script-title=ru:Всё об олимпийских играх|trans-title=All About Olympic Games|first=Boris|last=Khavin|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|edition = 2nd|page=578|year=1979|location=Moscow|language=Russian}}</ref> | birth_place = Novocherkassk,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yuriy-Sedykh 'Yuriy Sedykh Soviet athlete']. Encyclopedia Britannica, undated. Accessed 21 April 2022</ref> Rostov Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | death_date = {{death date and age|2021|09|14|1955|06|11|df=y}} | death_place = Pontoise, France | spouse = 1. Lyudmila Kondratyeva.<br/>2. Natalya Lisovskaya | country = {{URS}} (1976–1991) <br/> | height = 1.85 m<ref name=sr/> | weight = {{convert|110|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} | headercolor = lightsteelblue | sport = Athletics | event = Hammer throw | club = Burevestnik Kiev<br>Avangard Kiev<br>CSKA Moscow<ref name=sr/> | turnedpro = 1976 | coach = | retired = 1995 | pb = 86.74 m (1986) '''WR'''<ref name=sr/> | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's athletics}} {{Medal|Country | the {{URS}} }} {{Medal|Olympics}} {{Medal|Gold | 1976 Montreal|Hammer}} {{Medal|Gold | 1980 Moscow|Hammer}} {{Medal|Silver| 1988 Seoul|Hammer}} {{Medal|Competition|World Championships}} {{Medal|Gold |1991 Tokyo|Hammer}} {{Medal|Silver |1983 Helsinki|Hammer}} {{Medal|Competition|European Championships}} {{Medal|Gold |1978 Prague|Hammer}} {{Medal|Gold |1982 Athens|Hammer}} {{Medal|Gold |1986 Stuttgart|Hammer}} {{MedalCompetition|Summer Universiade}} {{MedalSilver|1977 Sofia|Hammer}} {{MedalBronze|1975 Rome|Hammer}} {{MedalBronze|1979 Mexico City|Hammer}} }} '''Yuriy Georgiyevich Sedykh''' ({{langx|ru|Ю́рий Гео́ргиевич Седы́х}}, {{langx|uk|Юрій Георгійович Сєдих}}; 11 June 1955 – 14 September 2021) was a track and field athlete who represented the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1991 in the hammer throw. He was a European, World and Olympic Champion, and holds the world record with a throw of 86.74 m in 1986.
== Career == Sedykh was born in Novocherkassk, Russia, and grew up in Nikopol, Ukraine.<ref name="nationality" /> He took up track and field in 1967 under coach Vladimir Ivanovich Volovik.<ref name="Book">{{cite book|title=Yuriy Sedykh|author=E. G. Bogatyrev|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|series=Heroes of the Olympic Games|year=1982|location=Moscow|language=Russian|url=http://www.sportlib.ru/books/la/sedih/|archive-date=25 October 2007|access-date=28 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025065317/http://www.sportlib.ru/books/la/sedih/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He trained at Burevestnik and later at the Armed Forces sports society in Kyiv, attaining the rank of major in the Soviet Army. From 1972 he was coached by Anatoliy Bondarchuk, who is widely regarded as one of the best hammer coaches in the world. In 1973 he became a member of the USSR National Junior Team.<ref name="Book"/>
=== Competition === Sedykh won gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics and 1980 Summer Olympics as well as taking first at the 1986 Goodwill Games. He set a world record of 86.74 m at the 1986 European championships in Stuttgart, where he won his third title in a row. He also came first at the 1991 World Championships. Only Sedykh and Sergey Litvinov have thrown over 86 meters in the history of the sport (Ivan Tsikhan's 86.73 m throw in 2005 was annulled by the IAAF in April 2014 due to doping sanctions<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/news/iaaf-news/ivan-tikhon-nadzeya-ostapchuk-results-annulle|title = Revision of results following sanctions of Tsikhan and Ostapchuk| News}}</ref>).
Sedykh's 1986 world record has been noted for its longevity, and for dating from "a time when track and field was starting to realize the scale of performance-enhancing drug use" (AP).<ref name="AP">{{Cite web |date=2021-09-14 |title=Yuriy Sedykh, hammer world record holder, dies at 66 |url=https://apnews.com/article/track-and-field-sports-europe-russia-moscow-62f7dd55278ba992439adf63ddfb0af1 |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> In his 2020 book ''The Rodchenkov Affair'', Russian doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov stated that Sedykh was a heavy user of steroids; Sedykh denied allegations of doping.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dr Grigory|first=Rodchenkov|title=The Rodchenkov Affair|publisher=WH Allen|year=2020|isbn=9780753553329|location=United Kingdom|pages=37–39}}</ref><ref name="AP"/>
=== Coaching === Sedykh coached French hammer throwers, including Nicolas Figère (80.88 m).
== Technique == Unlike many throwers, Sedykh employed three rotations rather than four. He often practised with lighter and heavier hammers. His technique was based on 'pushing' the ball left and letting the hammer turn him.<ref name=technique> [https://throwandshow.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/the-hammer-according-to-sedykh/ The Hammer According to Sedykh] Throw and Show</ref>
== Personal life == Previously married to Soviet 100 m Olympic champion Lyudmila Kondratyeva, Sedykh subsequently married former Soviet shot-putter and world-record holder Natalya Lisovskaya who won gold in the 1988 Olympics. They had one daughter, Alexia, born in 1993, who came first in the girls' hammer throw at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. Sedykh and his family moved to Paris, France, where he taught strength and conditioning at higher education level. Sedykh died in France on 14 September 2021 at the age of 66.<ref name="AP"/> The urn with the ashes was buried in the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery's Pantheon of Defenders of the Fatherland" in Mytishchi, Russia.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220513005706/https://smotrim.ru/article/2736865 (Russian) "the ashes of the athlete Sedykh were buried at the military cemetery in Mytishchi"]. smotrim.ru 19 Mai 2022 {{Dead link|date=May 2023}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == *{{cite book|title=Youri Sedykh|author=E. G. Bogatyrev|publisher=Fizkultura i sport|series=Heroes of the Olympic Games|year=1982|location=Moscow|language=Russian|url=http://www.sportlib.ru/books/la/sedikh/}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
== External links == *{{World Athletics}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ach|rec}} {{succession box|before=Karl-Hans Riehm|before2=Jüri Tamm|before3=Sergey Litvinov|before4=Sergey Litvinov |title=Men's Hammer World Record Holder |years=16 May 1980<br>16 May 1980 – 24 May 1980<br>31 July 1980 – 4 June 1982<br>3 July 1984 – |after=Jüri Tamm|after2=Sergey Litvinov|after3=Sergey Litvinov|after4=Incumbent}} {{s-ach|aw}} {{succession box|title=Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year|before=Saïd Aouita|after=Ben Johnson|years=1986}} {{s-end}} {{Footer Olympic Champions Hammer Throw Men}} {{Footer World Champions Hammer Throw Men}} {{Footer European Champions Hammer Throw Men}} {{Footer IAAF World Cup Champions Hammer Throw Men}} {{Footer Australia NC Hammer Men}} {{Footer New Zealand NC hammer throw men}} {{Footer WBYP Hammer Men}} {{IAAF Hall of Fame}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sedykh, Yuri}} Category:1955 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Russian men hammer throwers Category:Soviet men hammer throwers Category:Russian masters athletes Category:Olympic men hammer throwers Category:Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Category:Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Soviet Union Category:FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Category:Medalists at the 1975 Summer Universiade Category:Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade Category:Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Category:Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Category:Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Category:Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union Category:World Athletics Championships winners Category:World Athletics Championships medalists Category:European Athletics Championships winners Category:European Athletics Championships medalists Category:Soviet Athletics Championships winners Category:Australian Athletics Championships winners Category:New Zealand Athletics Championships winners Category:Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Category:World Athletics record holders Category:Burevestnik (sports society) sportspeople Category:Sportspeople from Novocherkassk Category:Athletes from Rostov Oblast Category:Friendship Games medalists in athletics Category:Burials at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery Category:20th-century Russian sportsmen