Vyacheslav Ivanov (rower)

Vyacheslav Nikolayevich Ivanov (Russian: Вячеслав Николаевич Иванов; 30 July 1938 – 5 August 2024) was a Soviet rower, and one of the most accomplished rowers of his generation. He rowed for the Soviet Union, and he won the Olympic gold medals in the single sculls class at the 1956 Melbourne Games, the 1960 Rome Games, and the 1964 Tokyo Games.

Ivanov was the first man to win the single sculls event three times in the Olympics. At the time, only Americans Jack Kelly Sr. and Paul Costello and Briton Jack Beresford had won three Olympic gold medals in the sport of rowing (since surpassed by Steve Redgrave and others). The only other person to match Ivanov's achievement and win three gold medals in the single scull is Finland's Pertti Karppinen.

His fierce rivalry with Stuart Mackenzie turned in to a lifelong friendship until Mackenzie’s passing, as was documented in Ivanov’s autobiography. In the last few pages of his book, Ivanov wrote the following about Mackenzie when they reunited again at Henley Royal Regatta in 2010: “I looked at Stuart and suddenly realised that this elderly foreigner whom I have not seen for almost 50 years and whom I might never see again, who used to drive me crazy and whom I almost hated once, is actually very dear to me. In some respects, and in his own way, he might be the closest friend I have.”