Vadim Yemelyanov

Vadim Mikhaylovich Yemelyanov (Russian: Вадим Михайлович Емельянов, 25 April 1942 – 27 May 1977) was a Soviet heavyweight boxer who won a bronze medal at the 1964 Olympics.

Yemelyanov took up boxing while serving in the Soviet Navy in Leningrad Oblast. He never held a national title, placing second-third in 1961, 1965 and 1967, but was successful internationally, winning the European Cup and the World Army Championships in 1963. At the 1964 Olympics he lost in a semifinal to the eventual winner Joe Frazier. During his career Yemelyanov won 141 of his 158 bouts. He was a career naval officer and after retirement from his boxing career worked as a coach in Severomorsk, where he died in an accident aged 35. Since 1985 an annual boxing tournament has been held there in his honor.