Vasiliy Kaptyukh
Vasiliy Kaptyukh (born June 27, 1967 in Maladzyechna) is a Belarusian former discus thrower who won the Olympic bronze medal in 1996. He has in fact never won gold or silver medals in major competitions, and he finished fourth in major contests such as the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. At the 2000 Olympics he even set his personal best throw with 67.59 metres.
His throwing style is rather distinctive. He has a signature one-handed windup, never touching it with the other hand. Despite being a large man at 1.97 m tall (6'6") and weighing 120 kg (265 lb), he demonstrates incredible speed around the circle; he also has a very ferocious yell when throwing. His father Boris and his aunt Vera Kaptyukh were also prominent athletes.
He made his first international appearance at the 1985 European Athletics Junior Championships, where he finished third to win the discus bronze medal.[1]
He retired from international athletics in June 2010.[2]
Achievements
References
- ^ European Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-06-07.
- ^ 2003 world champion Irina Yatchenko announces her retirement. European Athletics (2010-06-04). Retrieved on 2010-06-07.