Victor Kovalenko OAM ( uk, Віктор Коваленко; born 5 August 1950) is Ukrainian sailor & coach, now the head coach of the Australian Olympic Sailing Team. Referred as "The Medal Maker," Kovalenko has coached men and women sailors to 11 medals in many Olympic Games, beginning in 1988. Seven of those medals are Gold.

Biography

Kovalenko was born in

Dnipro 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 ...

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 ...

, on 5 August 1950. He learned to sail at the local "Meteor Club" when he was 12 years old. He became a member of USSR National sailing team in 1973, sailing Flying Dutchmen and

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

. In 1974 he won the national Flying Dutchman championship with Valery Maydan. That year he put racing aside to complete his education at the Nikolaev State Pedagogical Institute where he graduated with majors in Sport and Sport Science. He began sailing 470s while at Nikolaev. He considers that 16-foot Olympic class dinghy the most difficult and most satisfying boat to sail. (Victor was USSR 470 Champion in 1981 with Michael Kudrjavtsev). His nickname was Flint. In 1978, Kovalenko met his wife, Tatiana Savenkova. A track athlete who ran the 400 meters, Miss Kovalenko was a coach before becoming an elementary school teacher. They are parents of one son, Vladimir, and have one grand daughter. Kovalenko's competitive career ended in 1984 when USSR boycotted the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. After his team was disbanded, he turned part-time coaching into a full-time career. In 2017, the book 'Medal Maker' written by Roger Vaughan on the Kovalenko's life and sailing career was published. A film about Kovalenko based on Roger Vaughn's biographical book about him of the same name "Launch of ‘The Medal Maker’ - The story of Victor Kovalenko" is currently being shot in different parts of the world.

Coaching career

In 1983, it was announced that in 1988 women would be welcome to sail in the Olympics for the first time. The 470 was named as the first women's class. It fell to Kovelenko, a junior coach for USSR, to work with an inexperienced women's team of which little was expected. In four years, he coached former rower Larisa Moskalenko and her crew, Iryna Chunykhovska to an bronze medal at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. In 1991, after the Soviet Union was dissolved, Kovalenko began coaching both men's and women's teams for Ukraine. The

1996 Atlanta 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, ...

were a huge success for the newly independent country's first Olympics. Ukrainians brought home nine Gold medals, two medals of them in sailing (gold and bronze). But political upheaval within the country resulted in lack of support for the sailing team. When Kovalenko was recruited by Australia, he accepted. He moved to Sydney in 1997. His début as Australia's coach at

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

resulted in gold medals for both the men's and women's teams in the 470 class. Immediately after the Sydney Olympics, he was appointed the inaugural Head Coach of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

Sailing Program. Australia missed the podium in Athens (2004), but at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

both Kovalenko's men's and women's 470 class teams each won gold medals. At the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the team of

Mathew Belcher Mathew "Mat" Belcher, (born 20 September 1982) is an Australian sailor and a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 470 dinghy, who currently competes with crew Will Ryan. In 2011, following World Championship and World Cup success, he and Ma ...

and Malcolm Page won gold for Australia in the 470 class. Belcher and Kovalenko have now been working together 21years. At the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

, the team of

and

Will Ryan William Frank Ryan (May 21, 1949 – November 19, 2021) was an American voice actor, musician and singer. He provided the voice of Petrie in the 1988 animated film ''The Land Before Time''. He was also known for his voice work as Eugene Meltsner ...

won the silver medal in the 470 class. His aim is to coach at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

after his wife said "Victor, you have to do Tokyo because you can’t finish your coaching career with a silver medal, you have to complete the job". Kovalenko has coached the following 470 class crewed to Olympic gold medals: *1996 -

Yevhen Braslavets Yevhen Anatoliyovych Braslavets ( uk, Євген Анатолійович Браславець; born 11 September 1972 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian sailor and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in the 470 class at t ...

/ Ihor Matviyenko (Ukraine) *2000 - Tom King /

Mark Turnbull Mark David Turnbull (born 11 October 1973) is an Australian sailor and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in the 470 Class with Tom King at the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII ...

; Jenny Armstrong / Belinda Stowell (Australia) *2008 -

Nathan Wilmot Nathan James Wilmot (born 13 December 1979) is a sailor, and a member of the Australian sailing team. He has won five world titles along with teammate Malcolm Page in the 470 class. They also won the Olympic test event in Qingdao in 2007 and ...

/ Malcolm Page ;

Elise Rechichi Elise Maree Rechichi Order of Australia, OAM (born 11 January 1986) is an Australian sailing (sport), sailor from Perth, Western Australia. Rechichi and crewmate Tessa Parkinson represented Australia in the 470 (dinghy), 470 class at the 2008 S ...

Tessa Parkinson Tessa Parkinson OAM (born 22 September 1986) is an Australian sailor from Perth, Western Australia. Parkinson and skipper Elise Rechichi represented Australia in the 470 class at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Qingdao, China, winning the gold me ...

(Australia) *2012 -

/ Malcolm Page (Australia) *2020 -

/ William Ryan (Australia)

Accomplishments and Honors as Coach

*elewen Olympic medals (7 of them Gold) in 10 Olympic Games *winner, 20 world championships *two ISAF Rolex Sailors of the Year (

Ruslana Taran Ruslana Oleksiïvna Taran ( uk, Руслана Олексіївна Таран; born 27 October 1970 in Yevpatoria, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is a Ukrainian sailor. At the 1996 470-European-Sailing-Championship she won with her Partner Olen ...

, 470, 1997;

, 470, 2013) *winner, 14 European championships *winner, 118 world class regattas * Australian Coach of the year - 2008, 2012 *OAM (

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

) - 2012 * Order of Merit ( Ukraine) 2021 *Four medals from USSR and Ukrainian governments *Member,

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

- 2013 *Inaugural member, Australian Sailing Hall of Fame - 2017 *Member, 470 class Hall of Fame *Member, ISAF Coach's Commission *Vice-President, International Coaches Association *Honorary Member,

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron is a Squadron (not a club which is reflected in its support for all things sailing) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. History The Queensland Yacht Squadron was founded in 1885, received royal charter in ...

, Royal Tasmania Yacht Club, Sandringham Yacht Club, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Middle Harbor Yacht Club, Monaco Yacht Club *Ambassador,

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

- 2000,2013,2017,2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalenko, Viktor Australian male sailors (sport) Australian Olympic coaches Ukrainian male sailors (sport) Ukrainian sports coaches Soviet male sailors (sport) Soviet sports coaches Sportspeople from Dnipro 1950 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport coaches Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees