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,Belarusian SSR,Soviet Union
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	DynamoStavropol
Achievements and titles
Personalbest	74.98 m (1972)
Medal record RepresentingtheSoviet 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 aSovietathlete who competed mainly in thehammer throw.He won a bronze medal at the1972 Summer Olympicswith a throw of 74.04 metres, behind compatriotAnatoly Bondarchuk(75.50 m) andJochen Sachseof 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 toStavropol,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 theMedal "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 costumed person during a celebration inMinskand was charged withhooliganism.He died fromheart failurein 2002.