Background and career
Yuriy Vasilyevich Melnichenko (Russian: Юрий Васильевич Мельниченко; born 5 June 1972) is a Kazakhstani wrestler who won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman bantamweight (52–57 kg) category at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He competed at the next Olympics in the featherweight division and finished 19th.
After retiring from competing, Melnichenko worked as a wrestling coach. Between 2000 and 2004 he led the national team, and after that acted as vice-president of the national wrestling federation. Georgiy Tsurtsumia was his trainee.
In August 2023, he was appointed head coach of the national Greco-Roman wrestling team of Kazakhstan.
