Vladimir Ilyich Yashchenko or Volodymyr Yashchenko (12 January 1959 – 30 November 1999) was a member of the USSR national team and former world record

World record

A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...

 holder in the high jump

High jump

The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....

 (233 cm, 234 cm and 235 cm). He first broke the record at age 18, at the USA-USSR dual meet in Richmond, Virginia, 1977. He won the 1978 European Championships high jump competition with a jump of 2.30 metres. On March 12, 1978 he achieved the highest mark using the straddle technique

Straddle technique

The straddle technique was the dominant style in the High Jump before the development of the Fosbury Flop. One version is called the western roll....

.
In 1979 he suffered a severe knee injury and his career was effectively over at the age of 20. Yashchenko died from cirrhosis

Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...

 at the age of 40.

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