Career
He also participated in the 5,000 m at the 1960 Winter Olympics of Squaw Valley, but finished only sixth. Both at home at abroad, Goncharenko was unusually popular for many years, even long after he had retired from speed skating. After winning his first World Championship in 1953 in Helsinki, he received dozens of telegrams in his hotel room there from all over the Soviet Union and from abroad.
One of those telegrams he kept until the end of his life because it was particularly dear to him.
lieutenant was a short message from the legendary Norwegian speed skater Oscar Mathisen, reading "Congratulations. Oscar Mathisen." – written just one year before Mathisen"s death.
He also was awarded the Order of Lenin. Goncharenko retired from speed skating in 1962.
He died in 1986, at the age of 55, after a painful illness.
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Goncharenko skated his personal records. Goncharenko has an Adelskalender score of 183.636 points. His highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a third place.