Vasiliy Khmelevskiy

Vasiliy Khmelevskiy

Personal information
Native name	Васіль Уладзіміравіч Хмялеўскі
Full name	Vasiliy Vladimirovich Khmelevskiy
Nationality	Belarusian
Born	14 January 1948 Mikalaikaǔščyna, Hrodna Region, Belarus
Died	2002 (aged 54)
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	124 kg (273 lb)
Sport
Country	Soviet Union
Sport	Hammer throw
Club	Dynamo Stavropol
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	74.98 m (1972)
Medal record Representing the Soviet Union Olympic Games 1972 Munich Hammer Universiade 1970 Turin Hammer throw

Vasiliy Vladimirovich Khmelevskiy (Belarusian: Васіль Уладзіміравіч Хмялеўскі, Russian: Василий Владимирович Хмелевский; 14 January 1948 – 2002) was a Soviet athlete who competed mainly in the hammer throw. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics with a throw of 74.04 metres, behind compatriot Anatoly Bondarchuk (75.50 m) and Jochen Sachse of East Germany (74.96 m). He also finished in third place at the national championships in 1971 and 1972. He achieved a personal best of 74.98 meters on 8 July 1975 in Minsk.

Khmelevskiy was born and raised in Belarus, but later moved to Stavropol, Russia while serving in the Soviet Army. There he graduated from the Stavropol Pedagogical Institute. He began training in athletics in 1963 and became a member of the Soviet team in 1970. In 1972 he was awarded the Medal "For Distinguished Labour". He married a former athletics competitor, who also specialized in throwing, and took her to his native Belarus. There they raised three daughters and a son. After retirement from competitions, Khmelevskiy fell into depression and became a heavy drinker. On 30 December 1979, he set on fire, for a joke, a masqueraded person during a celebration in Minsk and was charged with Hooliganism. The trial and five-year jail sentence broke him. He died from heart failure in 2002.