Vladimir Vladimirovich Parfenovich ( be, Уладзімір Парфяновіч; russian: Владимир Владимирович Парфенович, ; born 2 December 1958) is a retired

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian sprint canoer and politician.

Sport

Parfenovich competed for the Soviet Union at the Moscow Olympics and became the first canoer to win all three events he entered: K-1 500 m, K-2 500 m and K-2 1000 m. He also won twelve medals at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). The World Cham ...

, with nine golds (K-1 500 m: 1979, 1981–1983; K-2 500 m: 1979, 1981, 1982; K-2 1000 m: 1981, 1982) and three silvers (K-1 500 m: 1978, K-2 500 m: 1983, K-2 1000 m: 1983). Parfenovich retired from competitions after learning that the 1984 will be boycotted by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. He then worked as an instructor for the Sport ministry of Belarus and served in the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

and police forces. In 1995–2007 he headed the Canoe-Kayak Federation of Belarus and was a member of the Belarusian Olympic Committee. After that he trained canoers in Russia, and in 2013 became head coach of the Russian team.

Politics

In 2000, he entered politics and was elected to the

National Assembly of Belarus The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Нацыянальны сход Рэспублікі Беларусь, Nacyjanalny schod Respubliki Bielaruś; russian: Национальное собрание Республики Бел ...

. He joined the parliamentary group Respublika that opposed the government of

Aleksandr Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Luk ...

. On 3 June 2004, Parfenovich and two other members of parliament, general Valery Fralou and Siarhiej Skrabiec, started a hunger strike, arguing that the chair of the parliament did not give them the chance for debate and did not put to vote their proposed amendments to the election code. They stopped the strike on 21 June, when parliament voted against their proposals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parfenovich, Vladimir 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Minsk Belarusian male canoeists Canoeists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Soviet male canoeists Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Belarusian sportsperson-politicians Members of the House of Representatives of Belarus Politicians from Minsk