Vyacheslav Vedenin

Vyacheslav Petrovich Wedenin (Russian Вячеслав Петрович Веденин; born October 1, 1941 in Sloboda, Tula Oblast ) is a former Russian cross-country skier who competed for the Soviet Union in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

At the Olympics 1968 he was second over 50 kilometers. During the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in 1972 Wedenin was a Soviet flag bearer. In Sapporo, he was the superior runner. He won both the 30 km and with the Soviet relay gold medal. He also finished the 50 - kilometer race in third place. In the relay race he had gone as a cage rotor with over a minute behind the race, until then anyone so much time had never been recovered. His victory over 30 km was the first Soviet in a single race.

Other successes celebrated Wedenin at the World Cup 1970, when he won two gold and a silver medal. In 1970 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, 1972 with the Order of Lenin.