Faina Melnik
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Faina Grigorievna Veleva-Melnik (Russian: Фаина Григорьевна Велева-Мельник; Ukrainian: Фаїна Григорівна Велєва-Мельник, romanized:Faina Hryhorivna Velieva-Melnyk; née Melnik; 9 June 1945 – 16 December 2016) was a Soviet discus thrower, a 1972 Summer Olympics champion in the discus event. During her career she set 11 world records.
Career
Melnik was Jewish and was born in Bakota, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. At the 1972 Summer Olympics, she broke the Olympic record three times, and set a world record at 66.62 metres. She had already broken the world record at the 1971 European Athletics Championships, representing the then Soviet Union. In 1976, she had her best ever discus throw of 70.50 m, but finished only fourth at the 1976 Summer Olympics. At those Olympics, she also competed in the shot put and finished tenth. She failed to reach the final in the discus event at the 1980 Games.
Continuing to throw after the 1980 Olympics, she set the masters world record in the W35 division that has stood since 1980.
Melnik graduated from the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry and later worked as a dentist and athletics coach in Moscow. Her trainees include Natalya Lisovskaya and Svetlana Krivelyova. Melnik was married to Velko Velev, a Bulgarian discus thrower who also competed at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.
She later became an inspiration for Miss Trunchbull in the Roald Dahl children's book Matilda.
See also
- List of select Jewish track and field athletes
External links
- Media related to Faina Melnyk at Wikimedia Commons
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byWest Germany Liesel Westermann | Women's Discus World Record Holder 12 August 1971 – 23 September 1972 | Succeeded byRomania Argentina Menis |
| Preceded byRomania Argentina Menis | Women's Discus World Record Holder 25 May 1973 – 12 August 1978 | Succeeded byEast Germany Evelin Jahl |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded byPoland Irena Szewińska | Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1975 | Succeeded bySoviet Union Tatyana Kazankina |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded byRomania Argentina Menis | Women's Discus Best Year Performance 1973–1976 | Succeeded byEast Germany Sabine Engel |