Valentin Yuryevich Demyanenko (, ), born 23 October 1983 in

Cherkassy Cherkasy (, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy serves as the administrative centre of Cherkasy Oblast as well as Cherkasy Raion within the oblast. The city has a population of Cherkasy is the cultural, educational and industrial centre ...

, Cherkassy Raion, Cherkassy Oblast,

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

Soviet Union 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 ...

(now Cherkasy,

Cherkasy Raion Cherkasy Raion () is a Raions of Ukraine, raion (district) of Cherkasy Oblast. It is located in the central part of Cherkasy oblast, and the center of the raion is the city of Cherkasy. The population is On 18 July 2020, as part of the administr ...

, Cherkasy Oblast,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), is a former Ukrainian-born

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

i flatwater canoeist. He is a four times world champion, three times European champion and silver medalist of

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in C-1 200 metres.

Career

Demyanenko was a late developer and only came to prominence in 2004 with a shock victory in the C-1 500m final at the European under-23 championships in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, Poland. His time of under 1:50 was comparable with those recorded by the finalists at the Athens Olympics. In 2005 his coaches judged he was ready to take on the seniors but no one expected what was to follow. In his first international appearance as a senior he won a silver medal at the 2005 European championships in the C-1 200m sprint, just one tenth of a second behind the three-times champion

Maxim Opalev Maksim Alexandrovich Opalev (; born 4 April 1979) is a retired Russian sprint canoeist. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he has won a complete set of medals in the C-1 500 m event (gold: 2008, silver: 2000, bronze: 2004). Opalev's potential ...

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. The following month, at the 2005 Flatwater Racing World Championships at

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, Croatia, he was entered in two events. In the C-1 500m he came fourth. Then in the C-1 200m final he turned the tables on Opalev, winning the final in a time of 39.264 seconds. After these successes Demyanenko began to concentrate on the C1 500m in preparation for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, where there would be no 200m races. He didn't appear at the 2006 European Senior Championships; instead he was entered for the under-23 championships in Schinias, Greece, where he won the C1 500m silver medal. At the senior World Championships in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, Hungary, however he returned to the 200m distance to defend his title. This time he finished in the silver medal position. In both events he was beaten by Russia's Nikolay Lipkin.http://en.trend.az/news/sports/1525855.html Trend

Notes

References

External links

* * * Living people 1983 births Sportspeople from Cherkasy Ukrainian male canoeists Azerbaijani male canoeists Canoeists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists for Azerbaijan ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian European Games medalists in canoeing Canoeists at the 2015 European Games European Games silver medalists for Azerbaijan Ukrainian emigrants to Azerbaijan Naturalized citizens of Azerbaijan Olympic silver medalists for Azerbaijan Olympic medalists in canoeing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics {{Azerbaijan-canoe-bio-stub