RIP Yuriy Dumchev

Former world discus record-holder Yuriy Dumchev died on Wednesday February 10th at the age of 57 after suffering a heart attack. Born on 5 August 1958 in the Russian town of Rossosh, Dumchev took up athletics at the age of 16 while at boarding school in Moscow. He competed in both the shot put and discus before specializing in the latter. Alongside his athletics career, Dumchev was a keen actor and starred in many Russian films, and also reached an international audience with occasional cameos in US productions. Dumchev appeared in one Euro-western as White Eagle in 1987’s A Man from Boulevard Capucines.