Lausanne, Switzerland, May 31, 2010 – The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) is in mourning after two- time World Championship winner, Russian Olympic champion and former FIVB Vice President, Board of Administration and Executive Committee member Mr. Yuri Chesnokov passed away at the age of 77 at home in Moscow on Saturday.

Mr. Chesnokov was a member of the Russian team which claimed gold at the first edition of Volleyball at the Olympic Games in 1964 in Tokyo, having already won two FIVB World Championship titles in 1960 and 1962. Following an extremely successful coaching spell, he went on to become elected as a FIVB Vice-President in 1976 before standing down in 2008 during which time he was also the President of the FIVB Rules of the Game Commission, Sports Organizing Committee and Coaching Commission.
 
“He was a pillar of the FIVB, who made an enormous contribution to international Volleyball,” FIVB President Mr. Jizhong Wei said. “He had a tremendous work ethic and touched many lives within the international Volleyball community. He was not only a legend of Russian Volleyball but internationally, he was one of the most respected persons within our sport, as a player, manager, coach and an administrator. The thoughts of all of the FIVB family are with the Chesnokov family right now.”

Mr. Chesnokov retired from international Volleyball at the age of 31 following his Olympic triumph. During the 2004 Olympic Games when he was the FIVB Olympic Games Event Director, he reflected on the changes of the sport of Volleyball, 40 years on from his gold-medal winning exploits: “In those days I was the main spiker and blocker yet I was only 191m. It is a sign of the times that we now see so many players over 2m tall. Over the years Volleyball has undergone a complete revolution and right now Volleyball is a wonderful spectacle.”

The 2004 Olympics was Mr. Chesnokov’s 10th Olympic Games in total in which time he collected all three medals. He won gold as a player, claimed a silver and bronze medal as coach in 1972 and 76 respectively and attended six Olympic Games as an official.