Vyacheslav Vedenin was a Soviet/Russian cross-country skier who won silver at the 1968 Winter Olympics and gold medals in the 30km and 4x10km relay at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Despite being only 1.63m tall, he defeated the Norwegian athlete to win the 30km race in 1972 when the Soviet team was losing the relay race. In honor of his accomplishments, a ski competition called Vedenin's ski track was established in his hometown in 1989, which has become a annual tradition that people from the region participate in. Vedenin continues to inspire young people by meeting with them and encouraging them to pursue skiing.