Valeri Belenki
Full nameValeri Vladimirovich Belenki
Country represented Germany
Former countries represented Soviet Union
 Azerbaijan
Born (1969-09-05) 5 September 1969
Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1989 StuttgartTeam
Gold medal – first place1991 IndianapolisTeam
Gold medal – first place1991 IndianapolisPommel Horse
Representing  Unified Team
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1992 BarcelonaTeam
Bronze medal – third place1992 BarcelonaAll-around
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place1992 ParisParallel bars
Representing  Germany
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1997 LausannePommel horse
Bronze medal – third place1993 BirminghamParallel bars

Valeri Vladimirovich Belenki (Russian: Валерий Владимирович Беленький, German: Valeri Belenki; born 5 September 1969) is a retired Azerbaijani artistic gymnast who competed in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.

Career

Belenki was born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union (present day Azerbaijan), in a Jewish family.[1]

He competed for the Soviet Union/Unified Team until 1992 when this federation was disbanded following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Belenki's greatest achievements are the team gold and all around bronze he won with the Unified Team in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Belenky also won gold in the pommel horse event at the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where he competed for the USSR.

Because Azerbaijan did not have a gymnastics federation for him to compete for in the 1993 world championships in Birmingham, Belenky instead competed as an unattached athlete. In 1994 he became a German citizen and represented that nation in the 1996 Olympics, helping the team to a seventh-place finish and coming 6th in the all-around.

In 2013, he was elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[2] In 2015, he was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame as a representative of Azerbaijan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900871.
  2. ↑ "International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame: Valeri Belenki".


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