Volodymyr Holubnychyy

Biography He was born on 2 June 1936 and raised in Sumy, where he lived throughout his life.

Career Holubnychy initially pursued his interest in cross-country skiing and later took up race walking in 1953. He was convinced to take up the sport of race walking by former Soviet Union weightlifting champion Zosima Petrovich who was one of his lecturers at the Kyiv Physical Education Institute. He had joined the Kyiv Physical Education Institute in 1953 with the intention of becoming a ski instructor. He clinched gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in the men's 20 km walk event on his Olympic debut which literally took everyone by surprise given his fifth-place finish in a trial race which was held prior to the Olympic final.

He was unable to defend his Olympic title in 20 km walk event at the 1964 Summer Olympics and had to settle for the bronze medal. During the 1964 Olympics, he suffered from headaches soon after the start of the 20 km final and also reportedly fell on the road in the middle of the race walk final. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, he became Olympic champion again and also won his second Olympic gold medal. He could not retain his Olympic title at the 1972 Summer Olympics, settling for a silver medal in the 20 km walk.

Apart from his outstanding performance at the Olympics, he was the 1974 European Champion and the Soviet champion in 1960, 1964–65, 1968, 1972 and 1974. After his retirement, he competed at international masters events during the 1990s after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Death He died on 16 August 2021, two months after his 85th birthday.