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At the age of 85, the legendary hammer thrower and later successful coach Anatoly Bondarchuk died, the European Athletics organization reported on his death. According to the website of the International Olympic Committee, the Ukrainian, competing in the colors of the Soviet Union, started athletics and hammer throwing relatively late, at the age of twenty-four in 1964. But he soon became one of the best hammer throwers in the world.
In 1969, he won the championship of the Soviet Union for the first time. Right after that, he became the European champion in the world record of 74.68 meters. A month later, he became the first hammer thrower in history to break the 75-meter mark when he threw 75.48 meters in his hometown of Rivne. The highlight of his career was the Olympic gold in Munich 1972, four years later he added bronze in Montreal. His personal best was 77.42 meters.
After his career ended, Bondarchuk established himself as a coach, most notably with Yuri Sedych, who in 1986 set a world record of 86.74 meters that is still valid today. Sedych also won the Olympic Games twice, in 1976 and 1980, in the second case Bondarchuk was there as a coach.
Between 1991 and 2004, Bondarchuk was the coach of the Qatar national team. He later worked in Canada, where he trained a number of elite throwers and advised current Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg. He has written eleven books and more than two hundred articles on coaching methodology.
