Valery Kerdemelidi 1938 – 2026

Biography

Valery Panayotovich Kerdemelidi was a Soviet artistic gymnast who won an Olympic silver medal at the Rome 1960 Games. Born July 18, 1938, in Moscow, he competed in all artistic gymnastics events at Rome, taking team silver, and went on to win two team silver medals at the world championships in 1962 and 1966, plus five medals at the 1963 European championships. He was the Soviet all-around champion in 1962 and won the national horizontal bar title in 1965. After retiring from competition he turned to coaching, becoming head coach of the Central Soviet Army Club in 1971 and later serving as an international referee and a member of the European gymnastics federation’s technical commission. He died on November 10, 2026, aged 88. The Russian Gymnastics Federation announced his death, offering condolences to his family, colleagues and pupils.