Veniamin Soldatenko

Veniamin Vasilyevich Soldatenko (Russian Вениамин Васильевич Солдатенко; born January 4, 1939 in Schkurowka, Kazakhstan) is a former Soviet athlete. At a height of 1.75 meters his competition weight was 64 kilograms.

Veniamin Soldatenko belonged from 1969 to 1978 for the world-class in the 50 - km walk.

For its first participation in European Championships 1969 in Athens, he was in 4:23:04,8 h third behind the two DDR -goers Christoph Höhne and Peter Selzer. At the European Championships 1971 in Helsinki, he won in 4:02:22,0 h before Höhne and Selzer.

1972 at the Olympic Games in Munich, he remained with 3:58:24,0 h less than four hours and won silver behind Bernd Kannenberg from the Federal Republic of Germany. At the European Championships 1974 Soldatenko fifth in 4:09:31,6 h

For the Olympic Games 1976, the Athletics IAAF had the 50 - km walk withdrawn from the program. Instead, a World Cup in the 50 - km walk was held in Malmö. This World Cup was the first official world championship in a classic Olympic athletic discipline after were held in the Cross Country World Championships since 1973. Since 1980, the 50 - km walk was back on the Olympic program, this World Cup was a single competition a curiosity. Veniamin Soldatenko won in Malmö in 3:54:40 h before the Mexicans Enrique Vera and the Finn Reima Salonen and was therefore the first world champion in walking.

At the European Championships in 1978 Soldatenko was once there and won in 3:55:12 h silver behind the Spaniard Jorge Llopart.