Andrei Tivontchik is a former German pole vault

Pole vault

Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...

er. He was Olympic bronze medalist at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's pole vault

These are the official results of the Men's Pole Vault event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.-Medalists:-Records:These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics....

 in Atlanta.

Tivontchik grew up in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and became a Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

ian citizen after the Soviet dissolution. In 1993 he moved to Germany and became a German citizen. Beginning with the 1994 European Championships

1994 European Championships in Athletics

The 16th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 August to 14 August 1994 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, Finland.-Track:1986 |1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |-Field:1986 |1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |-Track:1986 |1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |-Field:...

 he started for the German team. Tivontchik could not take part in the 2000 Olympics and retired in 2001.

His personal best is 5,95 metres, achieved in 1996. In Germany only Tim Lobinger

Tim Lobinger

Tim Lobinger is a German pole vaulter.His discipline is pole vault and he has been an elite competitor since the 1990s. His best results came in 1997 and 1999 when he jumped over 6.00 meters...

 has a better result. http://www.leichtathletik.de/dokumente/ergebnisse/images/ewige_dlv_bestenliste.pdf

After working as trainer of the national pole vault team of Qatar

Qatar

Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

, Tivontchik returned to Germany in 2004 where he is working as a trainer.