Viktor SANEYEV

Viktor Saneyev pictured above at his fourth Olympic Games, wearing

the men's triple jump silver medal.

The 1960s

Saneyev was a talented all round athlete who decided to concentrate on

the triple jump in 1963, when he reached a personal best of 14.88m.

The following year, Saneyev jumped 15.78m at Tbisili on 3 November,

which was only 11cm short of the world junior record, and ranked him

second on the world junior list that year. After joining the senior ranks,

Viktor continued to improve, and in the 1967 European Cup at Kiev of

17 September, he beat some of the continent's best triple jumpers,

including world record holder Jozef Schmidt (Poland) with a jump of 16.67m.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Schmidt's 8 year-old world record

of 17.03m was given a pummelling. In the qualifying round on 16 October,

Italian Giuseppe Gentile set a new record of 17.10m. In the final the following

day, Gentile broke the record again with a leap of 17.22m in the first round.

Saneyev was lying third after the first two rounds, but on his third attempt,

he assumed the lead by setting a new world record of 17.23m

The excitement seemed to be over, when suddenly Brazilian Nelson Prudencio

produced a jump of 17.27m on his fifth round jump to grab the lead and the

world record. Five minutes later, on his last attempt, Saneyev fought back

courageously, reaching 17.39m [(see photo above)] to win the gold medal

and set his second world record of the day. Although there was general

acknowledgement that the performances were assisted by the rarefied

atmosphere of Mexico City, many experts considered that it had been the

greatest triple jump competition ever staged. The following year,

Saneyev competed in his first European Championships in Athens,

winning the triple jump gold medal easily with a wind-assisted jump of 17.34m.

(Ron Casey).

The early 1970s.

Viktor Saneyev had established himself as the best triple jumper in the world

in the final years of the 1960s, winning the 1968 Olympic and 1969 European

titles, and becoming the new world record holder.  In the 1970 indoor season,

Viktor won the first of what would eventually become a record six European

indoor triple jump titles, when he beat East Germanyís Jorg Drehmel at Vienna

with a jump of 16.95m.  Later that year, at Stockholm, Drehmel turned the

tables on Saneyev, winning at the European Cup with a jump of 17.13m to

Saneyevís second-place jump of 17.01m.

In the 1971 European Championships

in Athens, Saneyev led the qualifiers with a wind-assisted 16.99m on August 14,

but in the final held the following day, he again narrowly lost to Drehmel, 17.16m

to 17.10m, although both jumps were wind-assisted.  To make matters worse,

less than two weeks before the European Championships, Saneyev lost his

world record to Cuban Pedro Perez.  On the positive side, Viktor's 17.16m jump

to win the national championships at Moscow on 17 July, and his 17.29m jump

in a late season meet in Madrid, were the second and third best performances

of 1971 behind Perez's world record.

At the 1972 Olympic Games the showdown between Saneyev, Drehmel

and Perez in Munich was thus keenly anticipated,

although it was somewhat diluted when Perez, hampered by injury, failed to

progress past the qualifying round.  In the final, on 4 September, Saneyev threw

down the gauntlet to Drehmel in the first round, stretching out to a wind-assisted

17.35m [(see photo above)].  Drehmel tried his hardest to match Saneyev's jump,

and came very close with a personal best of 17.31m in the fifth round, but in the end,

he could not prevent Saneyev from successfully retaining his Olympic crown.

(Ron Casey)

The later 1970s.

Viktor Saneyev had received a serious challenge to his position as the world's best

triple jumper in 1971, losing his European title to Jorg Drehmel (East Germany)

and his world record to Pedro Perez (Cuba).  Viktor rectified this situation in 1972,

when he beat both these rivals to retain his Olympic crown at Montreal in September,

and then on 17 October, at Sukhumi, the town of his birth, Saneyev regained

the world record with a jump of 17.40m.  Saneyev's next major competition was

the 1974 European Championships in Rome, where he hoped to regain the European

title back from Drehmel, who had produced the season's best jump of 17.06m prior to

the Championships.

In the final at Rome on 8 September, Drehmel took an early lead with his first round

jump of 16.54m, but Saneyev settled the issue beyond doubt in the second round,

with a superb leap of 17.23m, which easily earned him his second European title.

Viktor was a tireless competitor for the Soviet Union in the many international

matches that were contested during his career.  One of his more outstanding

performances in these competitions was in a UK v Soviet Union match at

London (Crystal Palace) on 24 August 1975, where he won with an UK all-comers

record of 16.95m.

 A new threat loomed to challenge Saneyev's supremacy in October that year

when Joao Carlos de Oliveira (Brazil) smashed Viktor's world record in Mexico City.

  In a showdown between them at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games,

de Oliveira gained a psychological advantage by producing the best jump

of 16.81m in the qualifying round.  However, in the final the following day,

Saneyev reinforced his reputation as a fearsome competitor, winning his

third consecutive Olympic gold medal with a jump of 17.29m.

(Ron Casey)

The final 1970 years.

Viktor Saneyev had received a serious challenge to his position as the world's

best triple jumper in 1971, losing his European title to Jorg Drehmel (East Germany),

and his world record to Pedro Perez (Cuba).  Viktor rectified this situation in 1972,

when he beat both these rivals to retain his Olympic crown at Montreal in September,

and then on 17 October, at Sukhumi, the town of his birth, Saneyev regained the

world record with a jump of 17.40m. 

Saneyev's next major competition was the 1974 European Championships in Rome,

where he hoped to regain the European title back from Drehmel,

who had produced the season's best jump of 17.06m prior to the Championships.

In the final at Rome on 8 September, Drehmel took an early lead with his first

round jump of 16.54m, but Saneyev settled the issue beyond doubt in the second

round, with a superb leap of 17.23m, which easily earned him his second European title.

Viktor was a tireless competitor for the Soviet Union in the many international matches

that were contested during his career.  One of his more outstanding performances in these

competitions was in a UK v Soviet Union match at London (Crystal Palace) on 24 August 1975,

where he won with an UK all-comers record of 16.95m.  A new threat loomed to

challenge Saneyev's supremacy in October that year, when Joao Carlos de Oliveira (Brazil)

smashed Viktor's world record in Mexico City.  In a showdown between them at the

1976 Montreal Olympic Games, de Oliveira gained a psychological advantage by

producing the best jump of 16.81m in the qualifying round.  However, in the final

the following day, Saneyev reinforced his reputation as a fearsome competitor,

winning his third consecutive Olympic gold medal with a jump of 17.29m.

(Ron Casey)

Fourth Olympic Games.

By the end of 1976, Viktor Saneyev had established an incredible record in the

triple jump at major championships, with three Olympic gold medals, and two

golds and a silver in the European Championships.  Saneyev's consistency and

durability over the years had been quite remarkable for such a stressful event,

but in the following two years, he was plagued by ankle injuries and

underwent several operations.

Despite these problems, Saneyev seemed to be well on the way to capturing

his third triple jump title at the European championships in Prague on 3 September

1978, after he took the lead in round 1 with a jump of 16.84m.  He extended his

lead with a 16.92m jump in round 3, and then improved even further in round

5 to 16.93m.  However, in round 6, relatively unknown Milos Srejovic (Yugoslavia)

came through to jump 16.94m, and thus relegate Saneyev to second place by

the narrowest of margins.

In 1980, at age 34, Saneyev competed in his last Olympic Games in Moscow,

where he attempted to equal discus thrower Al Oerter's unique feat of winning

four gold medals in the one event at successive Olympics.  Saneyev was troubled

by leg problems in the Olympic final on 25 July, sporting a bandage below his

right knee, and visibly limping away from the pit after each jump.  Lying in third

place on 17.07m with only one jump remaining, Saneyev called on all his

competitive spirit in a magnificent last ditch effort of 17.24m, which although

it improved his standing, it was only good enough to earn him a silver

medal (see photo above) on this occasion.  That marked the end of

Saneyev's amazingly successful international career.

(Ron Casey)

in Georgia, Saneyev lost his job and moved to Australia with his wife and

15-year-old son. He found a regular job as a physical education teacher at

St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill, and later as the jumping coach at the

New South Wales Institute of Sport. He died on 3rd January 2022 aged 76, in Australia.