Lev Matveyevich Vainshtein (also "Vaynshteyn" and "Lew Weinstein"; March 12, 1916 – December 25, 2004) was a Soviet world champion and Olympic bronze medalist in shooting.

Shooting career

Vainshtein was affiliated with the Dynamo St. Petersburg club in St. Petersburg.

He won a bronze medal in shooting at the 1952 Olympics

1952 Summer Olympics

The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

 in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, in the free rifle

Free Rifle

Free rifle is the former name of four ISSF shooting events:* 300 metre rifle three positions* 300 metre rifle prone* 50 metre rifle three positions...

 300 metre rifle three positions

300 metre rifle three positions

300 metre rifle three positions is an ISSF shooting event, involving shooting 40 shots each from the prone, the standing and the kneeling positions. Lately a similar event has been designed for women, where only half the course is shot. Originally there had been champions declared in each position...

, as his teammate Anatoli Ivanovich Bogdanov won the gold medal, and Robert Bürchler

Robert Bürchler

Robert Bürchler was a Swiss sports shooter. He won a silver medal in Men's 300 m Rifle, 3 positions at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, behind Anatoli Ivanovich Bogdanov and ahead of Lev Vainshtein....

 of Sweden won the silver medal. He came in fifth in the men's 50 metre pistol (60 shots).

He also won a number of world, European, and USSR championships in his career. He won gold medals as part of the Soviet Union team in both the 25 metre center-fire pistol and the 50 metre pistol in the 1954 World Championships in Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

. Four years later, he again won a gold medal with the Soviet team in the 50 metre pistol at the 1958 World Championships in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, and was part of the Soviet silver-medal winning Soviet team in the 25 metre center-fire pistol.

Vainshtein coached the Soviet shooting team at the 1964 Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

.

Publications

• Sportskytte med pistol och revolver, Lew Weinstein, Svenska Sportskytteförbundet, 1961
• Sportliches Schiessen mit Faustfeuerwaffen, Lew Weinstein, Dt. Schützenbund, 1979