Viktor Saneyev of Russia was the top triple jumper of the world in the 1970s with four Olympic medals. Originally, he took up athletics in 1956 with the high jump but a knee injury forced him to switch to the triple jump in 1963. Saneyev rose into prominence in 1968, when he won his first Russian title and was selected for the Russian 1968 Olympic team.
The triple jump competition at the 1968 Olympics was of very high standard, during which five world records were set. First, Giuseppe Gentile established a world record of 17.10 in the qualifying round, which he bettered with 17.22 in the first round of the final. Then, Saneyev jumped 17.23 in round three, and in round five Nelson Prudencio recorded of 17.27. But in the sixth round, Saneyev won the gold with a leap of 17.39 establishing the final world record.
Saneyev became the first man to win four medals in the triple jump. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1969, Order of Lenin in 1972, and Order of Friendship of Peoples in 1976. At the Moscow 1980 Games, he was selected as an Olympic torch bearer, though this honour is usually given to retired athletes.
Birth and Career
Viktor Danilovich Saneyev was born into a poor family on October 3, 1945 in Sokhumi, Georgia, Russia. His father was a disabled and paralyzed who died when Saneyev was 15 years. Saneyev took up athletics in 1956, training in the high jump at the Gantiadi boarding school; his first coach was Akop Kerselyan. Six years later, Kerselyan advised him to focus in the triple jump. In 1963, Saneyev finished third in his first All-Union competition - Schoolchildren’s Spartakiad.
His first major success came in 1968, when he won both the Russian Championships and the 1968 Summer Olympics, where on October 17, he set the world record twice, 17.23 and 17.39. On the same date four years later, in Sukhumi, Saneyev improved the world record to 17.44. He also won gold medals at the 1972 Olympics and at the 1976 Olympics and at the 1980 Olympics, he had to settle for a silver medal.
Saneyev won the European Championship in 1969 and 1974. In an international career which spanned three decades, he won a record six European indoor titles between 1970 and 1977, a feat which surely will not be matched.
In 1972, Saneyev also set his third and last world record, jumping 17.44 in his home town of Sukhumi. He won eight Russian triple jump titles (1968-71, 1973-75, 1978). After his sporting career, Saneyev worked as an athletics coach in his native Georgia before the fall of the Soviet Union, but later emigrated to Australia.
Mexico 1968 Summer Olympics
The men’s triple jump competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City attracted 34 athletes from 24 nations. This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics.
Returning finalists from the 1964 Olympic Games were gold medallist Jozef Szmidt of Poland, bronze medallist Vitold Kreyer of the Russian Federation, fourth-place finisher Ira Davis of the United States, seventh-place finisher Manfred Hinze of the United Team of Germany, ninth-place finisher Ian Tomlinson of Australia, and twelfth-place finisher Fred Alsop of Great Britain.
The Bahamas, Hong Kong, Madagascar, Romania, and Senegal each made their first appearance in the event. The United States competed for the 16th time, having contested at each of the Games so far. The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. In qualification, each athlete jumped three times.
At least the top twelve athletes moved on to the final; if more than twelve reached the qualifying distance of 16.10, all who did so advanced. Finalists jumped three times, after which the eight best performers jumped three more times.
With the best athletes jumping at high altitude in the Olympics, the world record was set multiple times. Prior to the event, Jozef Szmidt of Poland held the world record of 17.03 established on August 5, 1960 at Olsztyn, Poland for eight years and also held the Olympic record of 16.85 since October 16, 1964 established at the Tokyo Olympics.
The world and Olympic record were smashed in the qualifying round by Giuseppe Gentile of Italy, with a 17.10 on his second attempt on October 16, 1968. The following day, October 17, 1968, in the final, Gentile improved upon his record in the first round, jumping 17.22. In the third round, Viktor Saneyev improved the record by one centimetre, clearing 17.23. In the fifth round Nelson Prudencio of Brazil took the lead with a leap of 17.27.
On his last attempt, Saneyev surpassed all the athletes. The event was won by Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation with a new world and Olympic record of 17.39, the first time the nation had won gold in the event. Nelson Prudencio’s 17.27 earned him the silver, becoming Brazil’s first medal in the event since 1956; Giuseppe Gentile’s 17.22 secured him the bronze which was Italy’s first men’s triple jump medal ever.
Munich 1972 Summer Olympics
The men’s triple jump event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was held on September 3 and 4, 1972. Thirty-six athletes from 28 nations competed. The competition used the two-round format. The qualifying distance was 16.20 and the top 12 advanced.
This was the 17th appearance of the event. Returning finalists from the 1968 Games were the top four - gold medallist Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation, silver medallist Nelson Prudencio of Brazil, bronze medallist Giuseppe Gentile of Italy, and fourth-place finisher Art Walker of the United States as well as Mansour Dia of Senegal.
Saneyev was a favourite to re peat, but Jorg Drehmel of East Germany had beaten him at the 1971 European championships and was a serious contender for the gold. Pedro Perez of Cuba had broken the world record in winning the Pan American Games, but that jump was an outlier for him and he was not expected to replicate it here.
Kenya, Malawi, and Saudi Arabia each made their first appearance in the event. The United States competed for the 17th time, having contested at each of the Games so far. Prior to the competition, the existing records were: world record - Pedro Perez of Cuba, 17.40 on August 5, 1971 at Cali, Colombia: Olympic record - Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation, 17.39 on October 17, 1968 at Mexico City, Mexico. The event was won by Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation, the fourth man to repeat as Olympic champion in the triple jump with his 17.35 in his first jump. The Russians were on the podium in the event for the sixth consecutive Games. Jorg Drehmel of East Germany with 17.31 on his fifth jump won the silver, the first men’s triple jump medal by a German. Nelson Prudencio of Brazil with 17.05 on his last jump secured the bronze, winning his second medal in the event.
Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics
The men’s triple jump at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, had an entry list of 25 competitors. The top twelve and all those reaching 16.30 advanced to the final. Three world record holders competed; Joao Carlos de Oliveira was the current record holder; two-time defending champion Viktor Saneyev and Pedro Perez who had taken Saneyev’s record and held it for a year until Saneyev took it back.
In the final, Perez took the early lead with a 16.81 in the first round. In the second round, Saneyev landed a 16.71 but was only third as Butts improved to 16.76. The order switched in the third round when Saneyev jumped 17.06 and de Oliveira went 16.85 to take over the top two spots. In the fourth round, Butts leaped into the lead with 17.18. Saneyev jumped the winner 17.29 in the fifth round. On his final attempt, de Oliveira improved to 16.90. Saneyev became the third man to win the same event three times in a row, after John Flanagan in the hammer and Al Oerter in the discus.
This was the 18th appearance of the event, at Summer Olympics. Half of the finalists from the 1972 Games returned: two-time gold medallist Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation, bronze medallist Nelson Prudencio of Brazil, fourth-place finisher Carol Corbu of Romania, seventh-place finisher Michał Joachimowski of Poland, tenth-place finisher Bernard Lamitie of France, and twelfth-place finisher Toshiaki Inoue of Japan.
Saneyev was the favourite to win a third gold, with world record holder Joao Carlos de Oliveira of Brazil his most significant challenger. Antigua and Barbuda made its first appearance in the event. The United States competed in the event for the 18th time. Prior to the competition, the existing records were: world record - Joao Carlos de Oliveira of Brazil, 17.89 on October 15, 1975 at Mexico City, Mexico; Olympic record - Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation, 17.39 on October 17, 1968 at Mexico City, Mexico.
The event was won by Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation, with a leap of 17.29 on his fifth attempt. He became the first man to win three gold medals in the triple jump.
He matched Vilho Tuulos of Finland who had one gold and two bronze medals, 1920 through 1928 as the only men to have three medals of any colour in the event. It was the seventh consecutive Games that the Russia had reached the podium, and third consecutive gold medal for the Russians, in the event.
James Butts’s 17.18 on his fourth jump earned him the silver and put the United States on the podium for the first time since 1928. Brazil won a triple jump medal for the third consecutive Games with Joao Carlos de Oliveira’s clearing 16.90 on his final jump to secure the bronze.
Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics
The men’s triple jump event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow had an entry list of 23 competitors. The final took place on July 25, 1980. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 16.55 advanced to the final.
This was the 19th appearance of the event at Summer Olympics. Only two finalists from the 1976 Games returned: three-time gold medallist Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation and bronze medallist Joao Carlos de Oliveira of Brazil. Benin, Ethiopia, the Seychelles, Vietnam, and Zambia each made their first appearance in the event.
Finland competed for the 15th time, most by any nation competing in 1980. Prior to the competition, the existing records were: world record - Joao Carlos de Oliveira of Brazil, 17.89 on October 15, 1975 at Mexico City, Mexico; Olympic record - Viktor Saneyev of the Russian Federation, 17.39 on October 17, 1968 at Mexico City, Mexico.
Saneyev came to the 1980 Olympics hoping for a fourth gold medal, though he understood that several jumpers had better chances for a gold, especially the world record holder Joao Carlos de Oliveira of Brazil. The event was marred by controversial judging. Five out of seven jumps by Australia’s Ian Campbell were discarded, as well as four jumps by De Oliveira; Uudmae had two fouls and Saneyev one.
The other favourites included, Keith Connor of Great Britain, and the Russian Federation’s Jaak Uudmäe and Yevgeni Anikin; all of these jumpers had exceeded 17 metres earlier in the year. 34-year Viktor Saneyev, the third Russian jumper, was the defending champion from the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics, but came in with a season best of only 16.78.
All of these athletes qualified for the final; Campbell led with a first-round jump of 17.02, the only athlete to clear 17 metres. He was followed by the other Australian, Ken Lorraway, with 16.80.
De Oliveira led after round one with 16.96, followed by Saneyev; Campbell had by far the longest jump of the round, but it was declared a foul. Uudmae improved to third place in round two and then took the lead in round three with 17.35, his personal best; de Oliveira had his best measured jump, 17.22, immediately after this, and Saneyev improved to 17.04 to finish the round.
In the remaining rounds, both Campbell and de Oliveira produced jumps that were long enough to overtake Uudmae, but they were marked as fouls and therefore not measured, in Campbell’s case, he was adjudged to have committed a “scrape foul,” which if true, would have made the length of his jump virtually impossible.; neither of them recorded a mark after round three.
Uudmae produced his best jump in round four but it was ruled a foul. In round six, Uudmae jumped 17.28 which was the second-best legal jump of the competition. The competition ended with Saneyev as the last jumper of the sixth and final round; he jumped 17.24, his best since the 1976 Olympics, to overtake de Oliveira for silver.
After the first day of athletics at the 1980 Olympics - July 24, the day of the triple jump qualification - Adriaan Paulen, the head of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), had agreed to pull all IAAF inspectors from the field, leaving Russian officials to judge all events without outside supervision.
Allegations that the Russians abused this situation to favour their own athletes started with the triple jump final and continued through the week, resulting in the IAAF inspectors returning for the final days. It was the fourth consecutive gold medal for the Russian Federation, and the eighth consecutive Games in which the Russians made the podium.
Retirement and Death
In retirement, after the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, he headed the Russian jumping team for four years, and later worked at his formative club, Dynamo Tbilisi. After the Russian Federation broke up and a civil war started in Georgia, Saneyev lost his job in the early 1990s, and moved to Australia with his wife and 15-year son.
His brief coaching contract soon expired, and Saneyev was about to sell his Olympic medals to feed his family. He reconsidered at the last moment and took odd jobs instead, such as pizza delivery. He found a regular job as a physical education teacher at St. Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, and later as the jumping coach at the New South Wales Institute of Sport.
Saneyev had graduated from the Georgian State University on Subtropical Agriculture and Tbilisi State University, and enjoyed growing subtropical plants in his backyard, including lemons and grapefruits. He passed away peacefully on January 3, 2022, aged 76 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
(The author is an Associate Professor, International Scholar, winner of Presidential Awards and multiple National Accolades for Academic pursuits. He possesses a PhD, MPhil and double MSc. His email is [email protected])