Vladimir Mikhailovich Melanin (russian: Владимир Михайлович Меланьин; 1 December 1933 – 10 August 1994) 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 ...

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

Life and career

He won an Olympic gold medal for the

USSR 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 nationa ...

in the 20 km individual in the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck ahead of his fellow Soviet Aleksandr Privalov and the Norwegian

Olav Jordet Olav Jordet (born 27 December 1939) is a former Norwegian biathlete who was born in Tolga. He became Norway's first individual biathlon world champion in 1965, has world championship relay gold medals in 1966 and 1967. He won a bronze medal in ...

. Melanin also won three individual world titles in the 20 km, in 1959, 1962 and 1963. Melanin started as a cross-country skier, but changed to biathlon while. His strong skiing base helped him win all his titles, as his shooting skills were mediocre. Because of poor shooting, he finished outside of the podium at his first Olympics in 1960. He improved a lot by the next Games, where he showed not only best skiing time, but also clean shooting. He finished more than 3 minutes ahead of his rivals, which remains the largest victory margin in any Olympic biathlon event. Domestically Melanin won only two titles, in the 20 km in 1959 and 1966. After retiring from competitions Melanin worked as a biathlon coach and managed a cross-country skiing and biathlon complex in Kirov Oblast. He received posthumously the International Biathlon Union Honorary Award.

Biathlon results

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

''1 medal (1 gold)''

World Championships

''7 medals (6 gold, 1 silver)'' :''*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program.'' :''**The team (time) event was removed in 1965, whilst the relay was added in 1966.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melanin, Vladimir 1933 births 1994 deaths People from Sovetsky District, Kirov Oblast Sportspeople from Kirov Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Armed Forces (sports society) sportspeople Biathletes at the 1960 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 1964 Winter Olympics Biathlon World Championships medalists Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Olympic biathletes for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in biathlon Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet male biathletes