Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Ivanov (russian: Вячеслав Николаевич Иванов; born 30 July 1938) is a former rower, and one of the most accomplished rowers of his generation. He rowed for the Soviet Union, and he won the Olympic gold medals in the single sculls class at the 1956 Melbourne Games, the 1960 Rome Games and the 1964 Tokyo Games. Ivanov was the first man to win the single sculls event three times in the Olympics. At the time, only Americans Jack Kelly Sr. and

Paul Costello Paul Vincent Costello (December 27, 1894 – April 17, 1986) was an American triple Olympic Gold Medal winner in rowing. He was the first rower to win a gold medal in the same event, double sculls, at three consecutive Olympics. He also won num ...

and Briton

Jack Beresford Jack Beresford, CBE (1 January 1899 – 3 December 1977), born Jack Beresford-Wiszniewski, was a British rower who won five medals at five Olympic Games in succession. This record in Olympic rowing was not matched until 2000 when Sir Steve Red ...

had won three Olympic gold medals in the sport of rowing (since surpassed by

Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...

and others). The only other person to match Ivanov's achievement and win three gold medals in the single scull is

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Pertti Karppinen Pertti Johannes Karppinen (born 17 February 1953) is a retired Finnish rower noted for his three consecutive Olympic gold medals in single sculls in 1976, 1980 and 1984. Biography Karppinen won the world titles in 1979 and 1985 and once held th ...

Rowing career

Ivanov started as a boxer, in 1950. Starting from 1952 he combined boxing with rowing, eventually chose the latter sport. By 1955, at the age of 17, he won the USSR junior championships and finished third in the senior championships, beating the Olympic single scull champion Yuriy Tyukalov in the process. In 1956, he won his first Soviet and European titles and an Olympic gold medal. At the Olympics he was in fourth place at the 1500 meter mark. With only 500 meters left, he began a devastating sprint, catching Teodor Kocerka, Jack Kelly Jr., and then Stuart Mackenzie who had led the entire race. At the award ceremony, excited, Ivanov dropped his gold medal into

Lake Wendouree Lake Wendouree () is an artificially created and maintained shallow urban lake located adjacent to the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The name Wendouree comes from a local Aboriginal word ''wendaaree'' w ...

, where the race took place. His diving attempts to rescue the medal failed, and the IOC later provided him with a replacement. After the Olympics Mackenzie consistently defeated Ivanov at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

and at the European Rowing Championships in 1957 and 1958. Disappointed by his losses, Ivanov was considering to retire, but was brought back to shape by his coach Arkady Nikolayev. In 1959 Ivanov regained the European title. He also set a world best time of 6:58.8 for a 2000 m single scull race, becoming the first person to break the seven-minute barrier. At the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympi ...

, Ivanov won again with a blistering sprint, defeating

Achim Hill Achim Hill (1 April 1935 – 4 August 2015) was a German rower who competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1960 Summer Olympics and in the 1964 Summer Olympics and for East Germany in the 1968 Summer Olympics. He was born in Köpenick. ...

by more than 6 seconds. Mackenzie withdrew because of illness. In 1962, Ivanov won the first ever

World Rowing Championship The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...

, defeating Mackenzie and Seymour Cromwell. At the 1963 European Rowing Championships, he came fourth. Ivanov faced Hill again at the

1964 Olympics 1964 Olympics refers to both: *The 1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Ba ...

. This time he trailed Hill by 7 seconds with 500 m to go, but finished 3.73 seconds ahead owing to his trademark sprint. Ivanov missed the

1965 European Rowing Championships The 1965 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Wedau regatta course in the West German city of Duisburg. This edition of the European Rowing Championships was held from 20 to 22 August for women, and from 26 to 29 Aug ...

due to illness. Ivanov was hoping to compete at the 1968 Olympics, but was left out of the Soviet team in favor of a younger rower ( Viktor Melnikov). Melnikov failed to reach the Olympic final, while Ivanov retired next year. In addition to the Olympics, Ivanov won 11 Soviet single scull titles (1956–1966) and 4 European titles. He was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

(1960) and two Orders of the Badge of Honour (1957 and 1965).

Life after retirement

In 1960, at the peak of his rowing career, Ivanov graduated from a military school, and in 1969 received his master's degree from the Volgograd Institute of Physical Education. After retiring from competitions he served as a navy officer and retired in the rank of captain. He then resumed competing in rowing in the masters category.

Publications

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanov, Vyacheslav 1938 births Living people Rowers from Moscow Russian male rowers Soviet male rowers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour European Rowing Championships medalists Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic rowers of the Soviet Union Rowers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for the Soviet Union