For the past 40 years, Dr. Anatoliy Pavlovich Bondarchuk has solidified his position as one of the top track and field athletes and coaches of the past century. His success has been unprecedented and has included gold medals and world records as both an athlete and a coach. His scientific research into athletics has further established him as a top mind in the field of sports science.

Athletic Career

Born and raised in the Ukraine, Bondarchuk originally threw the discus before picking up the hammer throw in his mid-20s. He quickly rose to the top of the international rankings. At age 29, he won his first international title for the Soviet Union at the 1969 European Championships in Athens by over two meters. Shortly after the championships, he broke the world record twice. His best throw of 75.48 meters stood as the world record for nearly two years.

After Athens, Bondarchuk continued his success. In 1972, he won the Olympic gold medal in Munich (watch video here) and was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor. Also around this time, Bondarchuk began his career as a top coach. In 1976, Bondarchuk improved his personal best to 77.42 meters and won the bronze medal at age 36. However, he realized his greatest legacy may be as a coach since his young protege Yuri Sedykh beat Bondarchuk for the gold medal. Following the Olympics, Bondarchuk was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.

Soviet National Throws Coach

After retiring from athletics, Bondarchuk became a full-time throwing coach for the Soviet National Team. He served in that position from 1976 until 1992 and coached numerous world and Olympic champions in the hammer throw, shot put, and discus. Among other highlights, his athletes broke 12 world records, and won all the hammer throw medals in 4 consecutive non-boycotted Olympics. His top athlete, Yuri Sedykh, has held the current men’s hammer throw world record since 1986. At 24 years old, it is currently the oldest men’s world record.

Sport Scientist

Rather than being a typical sport, Bondarchuk made a name for himself as a coach by applying scientific principles to coaching methods. Bondarchuk earned his doctorate in Pedagogical Science from the University of Kiev. Throughout his career, he studied the effects of different training methods on the thousands of athletes he oversaw in the Soviet training system. He has published his findings in a dozen books and over 200 articles covering events from the hammer throw to long distance running.

Recent Career

After the 1992 Olympics and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Bondarchuk has been coaching in Portugal, Kuwait and Canada. As the national coach in Kuwait, Bondarchuk guided Mohamed Ali Al-Zankawi to qualify for the 2004 Olympics with a throw of 76.54 meters at just 20 years of age.

Bondarchuk moved to Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada in 2005 to work as the throwing coach for the Kamloops Track and Field Club. Since 2009, he has also served as the throwing coach for the new Canadian National Throws Centre located in Kamloops. While in Canada, he has helped transition Dylan Armstrong from a hammer throw to shot putter. Armstrong placed fourth at the 2008 Olympics, just one centimeter off of the podium. Armstrong and with hammer thrower Sultana Frizell have both set multiple national records while training under Bondarchuk.

Major Coaching Accomplishments

Major Championship Victories (men’s hammer throwers only, all performances achieved by athletes under Mr. Bondarchuk’s direction):

• 1976 Olympic Games, Montreal – Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists.
• 1978 European Championships, Prague – Gold medallist
• 1979 World Cup, Montreal – Gold medallist
• 1980 Olympic Games, Moscow – Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists.
• 1982 European Championships, Athens – Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists.
• 1983 World Championship, Helsinki – Gold and Silver medallists.
• 1984 World Cup, Belgrade – Gold medallist
• 1985 European and World Cup, Canberra – Gold medallist
• 1986 European Champs, Frankfurt – Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists.
• 1987 World Championships, Rome – Gold and Silver medallists.
• 1988 Olympic Games, Seoul – Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists.
• 1989 European Championships, Yugoslavia – Gold and Silver medallists.
• 1991 World Championships, Tokyo – Gold and Silver medallists.
• 1992 Olympic Games, Barcelona – Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists.

Mr. Bondarchuk’s athletes, while members of the USSR National Team, broke 12 World Records. His athletes won all hammer throw medals in 4 consecutive non-boycotted Olympic Games.

In addition to the above, the following are examples of results that his athletes have achieved:

Hammer Throw: (In total Mr. Bondarchuk has coached 17 athletes over 80m in the hammer throw)

• Yuri Sedych – Olympic Champion (1976, 1980), Silver Medal Olympic Games (Seoul), World Champion (1991), European Champion (1978, 1982, 1986). 6 Time World Record Holder (still current record holder – 86.74m set in 1986), best result: 86.74m.
• Sergey Litvinov – Olympic Champion (1988), Silver Medal Olympic Games (Moscow), World Champion (1983, 1987). 3 Time World Record Holder, best result: 86.14m.
• Andrey Abduvalyev – Olympic Champion (1992), World Champion (1993, 1994) best result – 83.60m.
• Yuri Tamm – Bronze medal Olympic Games (Moscow, Seoul), World Cup Champion (1985) and European Cup Champion (1985). Former World Record Holder, best result – 84.40m.
• A. Krykun – Bronze Medal Olympic Games (Atlanta), best result-80.46m. A. Debely – World Junior Champion (1989, Athens). Best result – 79.98m.
• Sultana Frizell: Canadian Record Holder in Hammer (2010)- 72.24

Shot Put:

• D. Armstrong – Champion of Canada (2006-10), 4th – 2008 Olympics, 21.04m, 4th – 2010 World Indoor Championships, Canadian Record – 21.58m
• A. Baryshnikov – Silver Medal Olympic Games 1980 – 22.00m World Record
• B. Stepansky – Champion of Ukraine (1989) – 20.89m
• A. Samolik – Champion of Ukraine (1990), best result – 20.52m.
• D. Kovzun – Champion of Ukraine (1987), best result – 19.35m.
• E. Koslova – Champion of Europe (1987) (junior), 19.99m
• S. Butova -18.56m.

Discus Throw:

Men:

• D. Kovzun – Champion of USSR, 68.62m.
• A. Mandyk – Champion of Ukraine, 62.84m.

Women:

• C. Savinkova – Silver Medal European Championship (1982), Silver Medal in World Cup (1985), Former World Record Holder, 73.26m.
• S. Suchova – Champion of Ukraine, 66.50m.