Description
The Medal Maker: A Biography of Victor Kovalenko is the story of Victor Kovalenko. This remarkable man shares with Roger Vaughan his ascent to the highest levels of sailing. Victor’s tenacity of pleading with those in authority to gain permission to race sailboats in the former Soviet Union is inspiring.
His teams have won more Olympic medals in sailing than those of any other sailing coach in history. This amazing story talks about his growing up in the Soviet Union in the 1950’s and 1960’s. You will also enjoy pictures of Victor capturing life’s precious moments throughout the years. The Medal Maker tracks his development from top sportsman in the Soviet Union to his initial Olympic success as a sailing coach of the Ukrainian team. But Victor’s innate curiosity and broad philosophical outlook clashed with post-Soviet, Ukrainian politics. When Australia beckoned, he was ready. Many thought this to be an impossible mission. But Victor turned what appeared to be a mission impossible into double gold at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. At the time he was dubbed “The Medal Maker”. The name has stuck with good reason. To date, in eight Olympic Games, Victor’s team have amassed ten Olympic medals, six of them gold. By the way, he’s not even close to being done. His eyes are set on a new target: the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
About the Author
Roger Vaughan covered Bob Dylan, The Beatles, the Woodstock and Monterrey Pop Festivals, and the Boston Symphony in China for LIFE magazine. Roger was founding editor of YACHT magazine; wrote about the Volvo (Whitbread) round the World Race (from on board), several America’s Cups and Olympics, and other grand prix sailing events for both ESPN TV and print. His previous biographies are of media magnate and America’s Cup winner, Ted Turner, music director Herbert von Karajan, medical researcher Hilary Koprowski, and sailor/educator/philanthropist, Harry Anderson.
Distributed by Cardinal Publishers Group
