Alexander Remmovich Melentyev (russian: Алекса́ндр Ре́ммович Меле́нтьев; 27 June 1954 – 16 February 2015) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

competitive

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such as ...

who won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics. The world record he set in 1980 remained unbeaten for 34 years. He was the first Olympic gold medalist from

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Bio

Melentyev was born in the Russian city of

Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-la ...

but grew up in the

Kyrgyz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...

. At the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Melentyev achieved a world record result of 581 (from 600, without final) in the 50 m pistol event in setting a new world and a new Olympic record. The world record was surpassed by

Jin Jong-oh Jin Jong-oh (진종오; ; born 24 September 1979) is a South Korean sports shooter who competed at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. The only individual four-time Olympic champion in shooting, he is the most successful individua ...

at the 2014 World Championships; with his score of 581 Melentyev remains the current Olympic record holder.

References

dataOlympics profile

External links

* 1954 births 2015 deaths Soviet male sport shooters Russian male sport shooters Kyrgyzstani male sport shooters ISSF pistol shooters Olympic shooters of the Soviet Union Shooters at the 1980 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in shooting Shooters at the 1994 Asian Games Sportspeople from Penza Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR {{USSR-Olympic-medalist-stub Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Asian Games competitors for Kyrgyzstan