Vyacheslav Zaytsev

Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Zaytsev (Вячеслав Алексеевич Зайцев, 12 November 1952 – 12 June 2023) was a Russian volleyball player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1976 Summer Olympics, the 1980 Summer Olympics, and the 1988 Summer Olympics. He was a setter.

In 1976, Zaytsev was part of the Soviet team that won the silver medal in the Olympic tournament. He played all five matches. Four years later, Zaytsev won a gold medal with the Soviet team in the 1980 Olympic tournament. He played five matches.

Zaytsev played a major role in helping the Soviet Union become a dominant team in the late 1970s to early 1980s by winning the 1977 FIVB World Cup, 1978 FIVB World Championship, 1980 Summer Olympics, 1981 FIVB World Cup, and 1982 FIVB World Championship. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, he was a member of the Soviet team that won the silver medal. He played five matches.

Among his achievements, Zaytsev also led the Soviet Union to six European Championship gold medals.

In 2013, Zaytsev was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Club volleyball
Zaytsev played for Avtomobilist Leningrad, with which he won two CEV Cup Winners' Cups in 1982–1983. He finished his career in Italy, playing in Spoleto, Agrigento, and Città di Castello.

Personal life and death
Zaytsev was born in Leningrad. He was married to Irina Pozdnyakova, a former competitive swimmer. They had a daughter, Anna (born 1975), and a son, Ivan, who is an Olympic volleyball player. Both children hold Italian citizenship: Ivan was born on 2 October 1988 in Italy, where his father played for several years, whereas Anna married an Italian in 1993.

Zaytsev died on 12 June 2023, at the age of 70.