Vladimir Pyotrovich Tkachenko (alternate spelling: Vladimir Tkatchenko) (russian: Владимир Петрович Ткаченко; born September 20, 1957 in Sochi,

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

) is a retired

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Tkachenko won two Summer Olympic Games medals and three FIBA World Cup medals with the senior men's

Soviet Union national basketball team The Soviet Union men's national basketball team ( rus, сбо́рная СССР по баскетболу, r=sbórnaya SSSR po basketbolu) was the national basketball team that represented the Soviet Union in international competitions. After t ...

. 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 ...

and the Mr. Europa in 1979. His

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

career lasted 16 years. 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 (russian: ЦСКА Москва) 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 era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

, and he stayed there through the 1988–89 season. He finished his club career in the former Spanish 2nd division, with Guadalajara, in the 1989–90 season.

National team career

From 1976 to 1987, Tkachenko played on the senior men's

, 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 FIBA World Cup competitions. With the Soviet national team, he won numerous medals, including: two bronze medals at the

1976 Summer Olympic Games Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games, the gold medal at the 1982 FIBA World Championship (also silver medals at the 1978 FIBA World Championship and the 1986 FIBA World Championship); 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 Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

, 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

Euroleague & International Statistics
{{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 of 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