Vyacheslav Ivanenko took up athletics quite late, in 1983 when he was already 22-years-old, but quite quickly rose to be one of the top race walkers of the world in the second part of 1980s. Concentrating mainly on the longer distance of race walking, Ivanenko won the 1988 Olympic 50 km gold, adding silvers in that event at the 1986 European Championships, and a bronze at the 1987 World Championships. He also finished fourth at the 1987 World Race Walking Cup and won a team gold at the same competition. Ivanenko won the Soviet 20 km title in 1987 and 50 km title in 1988. He finished his sports career after the 1988 Olympics. During and after his competitive career, Ivanenko worked as a traffic police officer with the State Inspection for Road Traffic Safety of Kemerovo Oblast. Since 2008, an annual race walking tournament has been held in his honor in Kemerovo.
Personal Best: 50kmW – 3-38:29 (1988).
Soviet Union
Russian Federation