Valery Kerdemelidi

Valery Panayotovich Kerdemelidi was born on 18 July 1938 in Moscow, in the Soviet Union, and was of Greek descent. He trained in the gymnastics school of CSKA, the army sports club, where the Russian Gymnastics Federation later said years of work and discipline lay behind his medals. He graduated from an institute of physical education.

Kerdemelidi was selected for the Soviet team at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where he competed in all men's artistic events and won silver in the team all-around. Individually his best placings were ninth on the rings and the horizontal bar. At the 1960 Soviet championships he won silver on floor and pommel horse and bronze on the horizontal bar.

In 1962 he became absolute all-around champion of the USSR and won team silver at the World Championships in Prague. At the 1963 European Championships in Belgrade he won two silver medals, on floor and pommel horse, and three bronze medals including the all-around. He won the Soviet horizontal bar title in 1965 and a second world team silver at the 1966 World Championships in Dortmund.

After his competitive career he moved into coaching and administration. From 1971 to 1992 he was head gymnastics coach of the Soviet Armed Forces and also coached the national team. He became an international category judge and in the 1990s served on the men's artistic gymnastics technical committee of the European Gymnastics Union.

Kerdemelidi was an Honoured Master of Sport of the USSR, Honoured Coach of the RSFSR and Honoured Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation. He was awarded the Medal for Labour Distinction in September 1960 for his Olympic performance, the Medal for Labour Valour in June 1989 for results at the Seoul Olympics, and the Medal of the Order for Merit to the Fatherland, second class. He is depicted in the painting Gymnasts of the USSR by Dmitry Zhilinsky of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Valery Kerdemelidi died on 10 November 2026, in his 89th year, at the age of 88. The Russian Gymnastics Federation announced his death the same day and expressed condolences to his family, friends, colleagues, pupils and all who knew him. It said details of a farewell ceremony would be announced later. His death was also reported by Interfax, TASS and Sovetsky Sport.

Kerdemelidi belonged to the generation of Soviet gymnasts who established the country as a world power in the sport around 1960. As a coach of army gymnasts for more than twenty years and later as a European technical official, he shaped the sport long after his own competitive career ended. The federation remembered him as a mentor whose authority rested on deeds, experience and respect for his students.