Faina Grigorievna Melnik (russian: Фаина Григорьевна Велева-Мельник, uk, Фаїна Григорівна Мельник (''Faina Hryhorivna Melnyk''); 9 June 1945 – 16 December 2016) 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 ...

discus thrower The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

, a

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

champion in the discus event. During her career she set 11 world records.

Career

Melnik was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and was born in Bakota,

Khmelnytskyi Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (dist ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. At the

, she broke the Olympic record three times, and set a world record at 66.62 metres. She had already broken the world record, at the

1971 European Athletics Championships The 10th (X) European Athletics Championships were held from 10 August to 15 August 1971 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results ...

, representing the then Soviet Union. In 1976 she had her best ever discus throw of 70.50 m, but finished only fourth at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

. At those Olympics she also competed in the shot put and finished tenth. She failed to reach the final in the discus event at the 1980 Games.Faina Melnik
Sports-reference.com. Continuing to throw after the 1980 Olympics, she set the masters world record in the W35 division that has stood since 1980. Melnik graduated from the

Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry The Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry (russian: Московский государственный медико-стоматологический университет) is a leading university for dentistry in Russia. The univ ...

and later worked as a dentist and athletics coach in Moscow. Her trainees include Natalya Lisovskaya and Svetlana Krivelyova. Melnik was married to Velko Velev, a Bulgarian discus thrower who also competed at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. She later became the inspiration for Miss Trunchbull in the Roald Dahl children's book ''

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

''.

References

External links

*
Sporting Heroes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melnik, Faina 1945 births 2016 deaths Soviet female discus throwers Soviet female shot putters Soviet Jews Ukrainian Jews Spartak athletes Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Ukrainian female discus throwers Ukrainian female shot putters Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Jewish female athletes (track and field) World record setters in athletics (track and field) People from Bakota, Ukraine Russian people of Ukrainian descent European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Khmelnytskyi Oblast

Career

See also

References

External links