Faina Melnik

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Olympic medal record
Women's athletics
Competitor for  Soviet Union
Gold	Munich 1972	Discus Throw

Faina Grigorievna Veleva-Melnik (Russian: Фаина Григорьевна Велева-Мельник) or Faina Grigorievna Melnik (born September 6, 1945 in Bakota village, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) was an Ukraininan discus thrower of Jewish descent, a 1972 Summer Olympics champion in the discus event.

She competed for VSS Sevan (1969-73) and later for VSS Spartak (1976-80). She set the world record twice. Her best throw was 70.50 m at the 1976 Olympics (placing her fourth).

Melnik, one of the most dominant track and field athletes of the 1970s, held the No. 1 ranking in women's discus from 1971-1977, the third longest world's No. 1 ranking streak in women's track and field history. At the 1971 European Championships, during her international debut, she set a world record in the discus throw (64.22 meters). Melnik was the first woman to break the 70-meter mark (in 1976), and in 1977, she won the first World Cup discus competition. A member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Melnick is currently a teacher in Moscow.

Olympic champions in women's discus throw

1928: Halina Konopacka | 1932: Lillian Copeland | 1936: Gisela Mauermayer | 1948: Micheline Ostermeyer | 1952: Nina Romaschkova | 1956: Olga Fikotová | 1960: Nina Ponomaryeva | 1964: Tamara Press | 1968: Lia Manoliu | 1972: Faina Melnik | 1976: Evelin Schlaak | 1980: Evelin Jahl | 1984: Ria Stalman | 1988: Martina Hellmann | 1992: Maritza Martén | 1996: Ilke Wyludda | 2000: Ellina Zvereva | 2004: Natalya Sadova