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Victor
Sanyeyev
The Soviet champion in the triple jump Victor Sanyeyev attempted to match the accomplishment of the discus thrower Al Oerter, who became first  Olympic winner four times in consecutive organizations.
Sanyeyev was born in March of 1945 in Sukhumi, in the Soviet Union. He was a well-trained athlete. He achieved his first international victory in the triple jump in 1967 and was defeated only once at the peak of his career, in 1971, by the East German G. Dremel. In 1968 he set a new world record, winning his first gold medal in the Mexico Olympics. A year later he was the winner at the Pan-European games and maintained the title of first Olympic winner in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Soon he won back the world record from Pedro Perez. In 1974 he became once again champion of Europe and a year later he broke the world record set by the Brazilian Zoao d' Oliveira, who had improved it by 30 centimetres in preparation games at the altitude of Mexico. Nevertheless, Sanyeyev beat the Brazilian champion during the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where he won his third consecutive gold medal in an Olympic organization.
In the 1980 Moscow Games, Sanyeyev attempted at the age of 35 to conclude his brilliant career by repeating the accomplishment of the American discus thrower Oerter. His dream was not realized. Although he beat again his main opponent, Oliveira, he lost the gold medal to Jaak UudmŠe, an until then unknown Soviet athlete, and ranked second.
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