Vyacheslav Ivanov

Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Ivanov, born on 30 July 1938, was a Soviet rower and one of the most accomplished rowers of his generation. He won the Olympic gold medal in the single sculls at the 1956 Melbourne Games, the 1960 Rome Games and the 1964 Tokyo Games, and he was the first man to win the single sculls event three times at the Olympics. At that time only the Americans Jack Kelly Sr. and Paul Costello and the Briton Jack Beresford had won three Olympic gold medals in rowing, and the only other person to match his three single sculls golds is Pertti Karppinen of Finland. His fierce rivalry with Stuart Mackenzie grew into a lifelong friendship, which he described in his autobiography, including their reunion at Henley Royal Regatta in 2010. He died on 5 August 2024.