Oleh Tverdokhlib ( uk, Олег Твердохліб; 3 November 1969 in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

– 18 September 1995) was a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

. He was still an improving competitor at

400 metre hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

when he was killed by

electric shock Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...

while fixing wiring at his parental home in September 1995. At global level in athletics he had finished both sixth in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

and

1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations. Having ori ...

finals at 400m hurdles. Previously he had taken the bronze medal at the 1991 Summer Universiade. His biggest triumph was undoubtedly his victory at the

1994 European Championships in Athletics The 16th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 August to 14 August 1994 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, Finland. Men's results Complete results were published. Track 1986 , 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , Field 1986 , 1990 , 199 ...

held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. On 10 August 1994 he ran a personal best and Ukrainian record of 48.06 seconds to claim gold and win the European title. This enabled him to represent Team Europe at the

1994 IAAF World Cup The 7th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 9–11, 1994, at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, Engl ...

in this discipline. He again excelled at this meeting with a superb second place behind

Samuel Matete Samuel Matete (born 27 July 1968 in Chingola) is a retired male track and field athlete from Zambia, who competed mainly in 400 metres hurdles. Career Noted for his exceptionally fast finish, he was one of the world's leading hurdlers in the earl ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and Team Africa.

External links

References

1969 births 1995 deaths Ukrainian male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of the Unified Team Sportspeople from Dnipro Accidental deaths by electrocution European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Soviet male hurdlers {{ukraine-athletics-bio-stub