Yuriy Sedykh

Yuriy Sedykh

Yuriy Georgiyevich Sedykh (Ukrainian: Юрій Георгійович Сєдих; Russian: Ю́рий Гео́ргиевич Седы́х) (born 11 June 1955) is a retired Soviet/Ukrainian athlete who represented the USSR, specialising in the hammer throw.

Sedykh began athletics in 1967, his first trainer being Vladimir Ivanovich Volovik. He trained at Burevestnik and later at the Armed Forces sports society in Kiev (Sedykh attained the rank of Major in the Soviet Army). In 1973 he became a member of the USSR National Junior Team. He set the current world record of 86.74 m. at the 1986 European championships in Stuttgart. Only two other throwers in the history of the sport have thrown over 86 meters; Ivan Tikhon (who threw 86.73 m, 1 cm short of the world record) and Sergei Litvinov (who threw 86,04).

Unlike many hammer throwers Sedykh threw off three rotations rather than four. He felt as though three rotations were sufficient. His coach since 1972 Anatoliy Bondarchuk is widely regarded as one of the best hammer coaches in the world. Sedykh often practiced with lighter and heavy hammers. He won gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics 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 Hammer throwers of the French team; Nicolas Figére (80,88) for instance. His compatriot and rival, Sergey Litvinov, is currently coaching the Belarusians; Ivan Tikhon and his own son Sergey Lytvynov Jr.. Yuriy's technique centers on 'pushing' the ball left and letting the hammer turn you, whereas Litvinov advocates uniformly accelerating the hammer.