Yuriy Sedykh

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Olympic medal record
Men's athletics
Gold	1976 Montreal	Hammer throw
Gold	1980 Moscow	Hammer throw
Silver	1988 Seoul	Hammer throw
World Championships
Silver	1983 Helsinki	Hammer Throw
Gold	1991 Tokyo	Hammer Throw
European Championships
Gold	1978 Prague	Hammer Throw
Gold	1982 Athens	Hammer Throw
Gold	1986 Stuttgart	Hammer Throw

Yuriy Georgiyevich Sedykh (Russian: Юрий Георгиевич Седых; born June 11, 1955) was a Soviet/Ukrainian athlete who , represented the USSR, specialising in the hammer throw.

Sedykh trained at Burevestnik and later at the Armed Forces sports society in Kiev (Sedykh attained the rank of Major in the Soviet Army). He set the current world record of 86.74 m. at the 1986 European championships in Stuttgart, Germany. The only other throwers in the history of the sport to throw over 86 m. are Ivan Tikhon (who threw 86.73 cm, 1 cm short of the world record) and Sergei Litvinov.

Unlike many current hammer throwers Sedykh threw off three turns rather than four. His coach Anatoly Bondarchuck is widely regarded as being one of the best hammer coaches in the world.

He won Olympic gold medals at the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics as well as taking first at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1991 World Championships in Athletics.

Currently, Sedykh holds an annual hammer camp in the USA. He is currently coaching a Finnish Hammer thrower. His compatriot and rival, Sergey Litvinov, is currently coaching the Belarussians, including Tikhon.

Youri's technique centers on 'pushing' the ball left and letting the hammer turn you, where as Litvinov advocates uniformly accelerating the hammer.

He is married to former Soviet thrower Natalya Lisovskaya, who won the shot put gold in the 1988 Olympics. They have one daughter, Alexia, born in 1992.

Sedykh and his family live in Paris, France, where Youri teaches strength and conditioning at the university level.

Interesting Fact: Youri is a heavy chain smoker. His choice of cigarettes are Marlboro.

Olympic champions in men's hammer throw

1900: John Flanagan | 1904: John Flanagan | 1908: John Flanagan | 1912: Matt McGrath | 1920: Patrick Ryan | 1924: Fred Tootell | 1928: Pat O'Callaghan | 1932: Pat O' Callaghan | 1936: Karl Hein | 1948: Imre Németh | 1952: József Csermák | 1956: Harold Connolly | 1960: Vasily Rudenkov | 1964: Romuald Klim | 1968: Gyula Zsivótzky | 1972: Anatoliy Bondarchuk | 1976: Yuriy Sedykh | 1980: Yuriy Sedykh | 1984: Juha Tiainen | 1988: Sergey Litvinov | 1992: Andrey Abduvaliyev | 1996: Balázs Kiss | 2000: Szymon Ziółkowski | 2004: Koji Murofushi