Career
Melanin started as a cross-country skier, but changed to biathlon while serving in the Soviet Army. Because of poor shooting, he finished outside of the podium at his first Olympics in 1960. He improved a lot by the next Games, where he showed not only best skiing time, but also clean shooting.
He finished more than 3 minutes ahead of his rivals, which remains the largest victory margin in any Olympic biathlon event.
After retiring from competitions Melanin worked as a biathlon coach and managed a cross-country skiing and biathlon complex in Kirov Oblast. All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.
Olympic Games
1 medal (1 gold)
World Championships
7 medals (6 gold, 1 silver)
*During Olympic seasons competitions are only held for those events not included in the Olympic program **The team (time) event was removed in 1965, whilst the relay was added in 1966.