Vladimir Petrovich Tkachenko (alternative spelling: Vladimir Tkatchenko) (; born 20 September 1957) is a retired

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Tkachenko won two

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

medals and three

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...

medals with the senior men's Soviet Union national team. He was also named both the

Euroscar The Euroscar European Player of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given to the year's best male European basketball player. Its name is a portmanteau of Europe and Oscar, and the award is often referred to as "European basketball’s O ...

and the

Mr. Europa The Mister Europa European Player of the Year Award was an annual basketball award created in 1976, and given until 2010, by the panel of journalists of the Italy, Italian weekly magazine ''Superbasket''. Its purpose was to praise the best basket ...

in 1979. His pro club career lasted 17 years. He was named to the

FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team FIBA EuroStars was an annual All-Star Game showcase of the sport of European professional club basketball. It was organized by FIBA Europe. Commonly considered to be the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars Game featu ...

in 2007. He became a FIBA Hall of Fame player in 2015.

Professional career

Tkachenko began playing with Stroitel of the USSR Premiere League, during the 1973–74 season, when he was 16 years old. He continued to play for them through the 1981–82 season. In 1983, he began playing for the USSR League club

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, and he stayed there through the 1989–90 season. He finished his club career in the former Spanish 2nd division, with

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, in the 1990–91 season.

National team career

From 1976 to 1987, Tkachenko played on the senior men's Soviet Union national team, participating in many

FIBA EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

and

competitions. With the Soviet national team, he won numerous medals, including: two bronze medals, at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games and at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games, the gold medal at the

1982 FIBA World Championship The 1982 FIBA World Championship was the 9th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Colombia from 15 to 28 August 1982. Qualification Venues Competin ...

(also silver medals at the

1978 FIBA World Championship The 1978 FIBA World Championship was the 8th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by the Philippines from October 1 to 14, 1978 in Rizal Memorial Coliseum in ...

and the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

); as well as three gold medals at the

: at the FIBA EuroBasket 1979, the FIBA EuroBasket 1981, and the FIBA EuroBasket 1985 (also silvers at the FIBA EuroBasket 1977 and the FIBA EuroBasket 1987).

Player profile

Tkachenko, a , center, was a great defensive player. He could block out 2-3 opponents to give teammates a chance to grab a rebound. His offensive ability was important too, as his post up moves were basic, but effective, and his shooting was good for a player of his size, with a range of approximately 17 feet.

References

External links

*
InterBasket profileCSKA Moscow profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tkachenko, Vladimir 1957 births Living people Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics BC Budivelnyk players CB Guadalajara players Centers (basketball) FIBA EuroBasket–winning players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees FIBA World Championship–winning players Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in basketball PBC CSKA Moscow players Sportspeople from Sochi Russian men's basketball players Russian people of Ukrainian descent Russian expatriate basketball people in Spain Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Spain Soviet men's basketball players 1978 FIBA World Championship players 1982 FIBA World Championship players 1986 FIBA World Championship players Goodwill Games medalists in basketball 20th-century Russian sportsmen