Vladimir Parfenovich

Vladimir Parfenovich

Parfenovich at the 1980 Olympics
Personal information
Born	2 December 1958 (age 57) Minsk, Belarus
Height	192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Sport
Sport	Canoe sprint
Club	Krasnoye Znamya Minsk
Medal record Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1980 Moscow K-1 500 m 1980 Moscow K-2 500 m 1980 Moscow K-2 1000 m World Championships 1978 Belgrade K-1 500 m 1979 Duisburg K-1 500 m 1979 Duisburg K-2 500 m 1981 Nottingham K-1 500 m 1981 Nottingham K-2 500 m 1981 Nottingham K-2 1000 m 1982 Belgrade K-1 500 m 1982 Belgrade K-2 500 m 1982 Belgrade K-2 1000 m 1983 Tampere K-1 500 m 1983 Tampere K-2 500 m 1983 Tampere K-2 1000 m

Vladimir Vladimirovich Parfenovich (Belarusian: Уладзімір Парфяновіч; Russian: Владимир Владимирович Парфенович, Vladimir Parfenovich; born 2 December 1958) is a retired Belarusian sprint canoer and politician.

Sport

Parfenovich competed for the Soviet Union at the Moscow Olympics and became the first canoer to win all three events he entered: K-1 500 m, K-2 500 m and K-2 1000 m. He also won twelve medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, with nine golds (K-1 500 m: 1979, 1981–1983; K-2 500 m: 1979, 1981, 1982; K-2 1000 m: 1981, 1982) and three silvers (K-1 500 m: 1978, K-2 500 m: 1983, K-2 1000 m: 1983).^[1][2][3]

Parfenovich retired from competitions after learning that the 1984 will be boycotted by the Soviet Union. He then worked as an instructor for the Sport ministry of Belarus and served in the KGB and police forces. In 1995–2007 he headed the Canoe-Kayak Federation of Belarus and was a member of the Belarusian Olympic Committee. After that he trained canoers in Russia, and in 2013 became head coach of the Russian team.^[1][4][5]

Politics

In 2000, he entered politics and was elected to the National Assembly of Belarus. He joined the parliamentary group Respublika that opposed the government of Aleksandr Lukashenko. On 3 June 2004, Parfenovich and two other members of parliament, general Valery Fralou and Siarhiej Skrabiec, started a hunger strike, arguing that the chair of the parliament did not give them the chance for debate and did not put to vote their proposed amendments to the election code. They stopped the strike on 21 June, when parliament voted against their proposals.^[1]

References

1. Vladimir Parfenovich. sports-reference.com
2. ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007. canoeicf.com
3. ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007. canoeicf.com
4. Владимир Парфенович: «Скажите, я этой Родине нужен? Или мне надо было съесть последние носки?» nv-online.info (5 November 2010)
5. Владимир Парфенович стал главным тренером сборной России по гребле. charter97.org (5 October 2013)