Valeri Vladimirovich Belenki (russian: Валерий Владимирович Беленький, german: Valeri Belenki; born 5 September 1969) is a retired Azerbaijani

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

who competed in the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Career

Belenki was born and raised in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

, Soviet Union (present day Azerbaijan), in a Jewish family. He competed for the Soviet Union/ Unified Team until 1992 when this federation was disbanded following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Belenki's greatest achievements are the team gold and all around bronze he won with the Unified Team in the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...

in Barcelona. Belenky also won gold in the pommel horse event at the

1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 26th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Indianapolis, United States, in the Hoosier Dome The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise ...

, where he competed for the USSR. Because Azerbaijan did not have a gymnastics federation for him to compete for in the 1993 world championships in Birmingham, Belenky instead competed as an unattached athlete. In 1994 he became a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

citizen and represented that nation in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, helping the team to a seventh-place finish and coming 6th in the all-around. In 2013, he was elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 2015, he was inducted into the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IGHO ...

as a representative of Azerbaijan.

References

External links

Valery Belenky
1969 births Living people Soviet male artistic gymnasts Azerbaijani male artistic gymnasts German male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of the Unified Team Olympic gymnasts of Germany Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic bronze medalists for the Unified Team World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Sportspeople from Baku Soviet Azerbaijani people Azerbaijani Jews Jewish gymnasts Olympic medalists in gymnastics Soviet Jews International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg {{Germany-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub

Career

See also

References

External links