Hennadiy Bleznitsov (Ukrainian: Геннадій Блезніцов; born on 6 January 1941 in Kharkiv) is a retired Ukrainian pole vaulter who represented the USSR. He trained at Burevestnik and later at the Armed Forces sports society in Kharkov. He represented his country twice at the Olympic Games, reaching the finals in both 1964 and 1968.[1]
Bleznitsov won two medals at the Universiade, winning the 1963 title in a championship record of 4.60 m before taking a silver in 1965 behind American John Pennel.[2] He was the inaugural pole vault champion at the annual 1966 European Indoor Games and won three silver medals in the subsequent years, beaten by fellow Soviet Igor Feld and East Germany's Wolfgang Nordwig.[3] He was twice a medallist at the European Cup and competed at the 1966 European Athletics Championships, though he failed to register a height.[4]
He won a total of ten Soviet national titles in the pole vault, including four straight wins outdoors from 1963 to 1966.[5][6] He achieved his career best of 5.30 m (17 ft 4 1⁄2 in) at the 1968 Olympic final in Mexico City. One of the best vaulters of his generation, he ranked in the global top ten for five straight years, from 1965 to 1969.[7]
International competitions
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Universiade | Porto Alegre, Brazil | 1st | 4.60 m CR |
| 1964 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 5th | 4.95 m |
| 1965 | Universiade | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | 4.90 m |
| European Cup | Stuttgart, West Germany | 3rd | 4.80 m | |
| 1966 | European Indoor Games | Dortmund, West Germany | 1st | 4.90 m |
| European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | NH | — | |
| 1967 | European Indoor Games | Prague, Czechoslovakia | 2nd | 4.90 m |
| European Cup | Kyiv, Soviet Union | 2nd | 5.05 m | |
| 1968 | European Indoor Games | Madrid, Spain | 2nd | 5.10 m |
| Olympic Games | Mexico City, Mexico | 6th | 5.30 m | |
| 1969 | European Indoor Games | Belgrade, Yugoslavia | 2nd | 5.10 m |
| 1970 | European Indoor Championships | Vienna, Austria | 6th | 5.00 m |
National titles
edit- Soviet Athletics Championships
- Pole vault: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972
- Soviet Indoor Athletics Championships
- Pole vault: 1964, 1966, 1967
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Hennadiy Bleznitsov Biography and Olympic Results". 2000. Archived from the original on 13 December 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
- ^ Universiade Men. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
- ^ European Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2013-12-10.
- ^ European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014 - STATISTICS HANDBOOK (PDF), European Athletics Association, pp. 397–405, retrieved 13 August 2014
- ^ Soviet Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
- ^ Soviet Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
- ^ Gennadiy Bliznyetsov. Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved on 2018-02-11.