View source for Valery Belenky

{{Short description|Azerbaijani artistic gymnast (born 1969)}}
{{Infobox gymnast
|name= Valeri Belenki
|image=
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|fullname= Valeri Vladimirovich Belenki
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|country={{GER}} 
|formercountry={{URS}} <br /> {{AZE}}
|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1969|9|5|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
|hometown= 
|residence=
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|discipline=MAG
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| show-medals     = yes
|medaltemplates= <!-- see [[Template:MedalRelatedTemplates]] -->
{{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1989 Stuttgart]]|Team}}
{{MedalGold|[[1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1991 Indianapolis]]|Team}}
{{MedalGold|[[1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1991 Indianapolis]]|Pommel Horse}}
{{MedalCountry | {{EUN}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Gymnastics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]]|[[Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic team all-around|Team]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]]|[[Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic individual all-around|All-around]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1992 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1992 Paris]]|Parallel bars}}
{{MedalCountry | {{GER}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1997 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1997 Lausanne]]|Pommel horse}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1993 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1993 Birmingham]]|Parallel bars}}
}}

'''Valeri Vladimirovich Belenki''' ({{langx|ru|Валерий Владимирович Беленький}}, {{langx|de|Valeri Belenki}}; born 5 September 1969) is a retired [[Azerbaijan]]i [[Artistic Gymnastics|artistic gymnast]] who competed in the [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992]] and [[1996 Summer Olympics]].

==Career==
Belenki was born and raised in [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan SSR]], [[Soviet Union]] (present day [[Azerbaijan]]), in a Jewish family.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tGcPDXOjxMoC&q=%22Jews+and+the+Olympic+Games%22++belenki&pg=PA225|title = Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics : With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medallists|isbn = 9781903900871|last1 = Taylor|first1 = Paul|year = 2004| publisher=Sussex Academic Press }}</ref>

He competed for the [[Soviet Union]]/[[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]] until 1992 when this federation was disbanded following the breakup of the [[Soviet Union]].

Belenki's greatest achievements are the team gold and all around bronze he won with the [[Unified Team at the Olympics|Unified Team]] in the [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Olympics]] in [[Barcelona]]. Belenky also won gold in the [[Gymnastics pommel horse|pommel horse]] event at the [[1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]], where he competed for the USSR.

Because [[Azerbaijan]] did not have a gymnastics federation for him to compete for in the 1993 world championships in [[Birmingham]], Belenky instead competed as an unattached athlete. In 1994 he became a [[Germany|German]] citizen and represented that nation in the [[1996 Olympics]], helping the team to a seventh-place finish and coming 6th in the all-around.

In 2013, he was elected to the [[International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/Valeri-Belenki.htm |title=International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame: Valeri Belenki}}</ref> In 2015, he was inducted into the [[International Gymnastics Hall of Fame]] as a representative of Azerbaijan.

==See also==
*[[List of Jews in sports#Gymnastics|List of select Jewish gymnasts]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gymn-forum.net/bios/men/belenky.html Valery Belenky] at Gymn Forum
* {{IGHOF|name=Valery Belenky}}
* {{FIG|name=Valeri Belenki}}
* {{Olympedia|name=Valeri Belenki}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|valeri-belenki|Valeri Belenki}}

{{Olympic champions artistic gymnastics Men TC|1992}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMenTC|1989|1991}}
{{NavigationWorldChampionsArtisticGymnasticsMen’sPommelHorse}}
{{International Gymnastics Hall of Fame members}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belenki, Valeri}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Soviet male artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Azerbaijani male artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:German male artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Olympic gymnasts for the Unified Team]]
[[Category:Olympic gymnasts for Germany]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Unified Team]]
[[Category:World champion gymnasts]]
[[Category:Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships]]
[[Category:Gymnasts from Baku]]
[[Category:Soviet Azerbaijani people]]
[[Category:Azerbaijani Jews]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in gymnastics]]
[[Category:Soviet Jews]]
[[Category:International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of Germany]]
[[Category:Naturalised sports competitors]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games]]
[[Category:Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics]]
[[Category:20th-century German sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century Azerbaijani sportsmen]]


{{Azerbaijan-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub}}
{{Germany-artistic-gymnastics-bio-stub}}