Yakiv Hryhorovych Kutsenko (, 22 November 1915 – 13 August 1988) was a Ukrainian heavyweight weightlifter. Between 1946 and 1950 he won two European titles and two silver medals at world championships, both times losing to John Davis. He was the Soviet heavyweight champion between 1937 and 1952, and in 1947 set three official world records in the clean and jerk. Kutsenko served as the Soviet flag bearer at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

. He was prevented from competing by Soviet authorities who expected the flag bearer to win a gold medal and believed Kutsenko wouldn't be able to achieve that.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kutsenko, Yakov 1915 births 1988 deaths Sportspeople from Kyiv People from Kievsky Uyezd European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Merited Coaches of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet male weightlifters Ukrainian male weightlifters Burials at Baikove Cemetery