Career
The world record he set in 1980 remained unbeaten for 34 years. He was the first Olympic gold medalist from Kyrgyzstan. Melentyev was born in the Russian city of Penza but grew up in the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic. The world record was surpassed by Jin Jong-oh at the 2014 World Championships.
With his score of 581 Melentyev remains the current Olympic record holder.