Avdyeyenko entered the
1983 World Championships as an unknown. His personal best was only 2.25 m and he had placed 6th at the main tryout meeting, the 1983
Spartakiad; however, high jump coach
Kęstutis Šapka and team coach
Igor Ter-Ovanesyan lobbied to have him included in the team. In the
World Championship final, up against thirteen athletes with bests of 2.30 m or better, Avdyeyenko improved his personal best by 7 centimetres to win an unexpected gold medal, beating the
United States'
Tyke Peacock on countback. He won another silver medal at the
outdoor championships that year, again jumping 2.38 m and tying with Paklin; this time the tie did not have to be broken, as
Patrik Sjöberg won on countback and the gold medal was thus not at stake. Avdyeyenko then won another gold at the
1988 Summer Olympics in
Seoul, in the absence of
Cuba's
world record holder
Javier Sotomayor, whose country
boycotted the Olympics. He jumped 2.38 m yet again, and this time he was the only jumper to clear that height. Avdyeyenko graduated from
Odessa Polytechnic Institute and worked as an expert in
refrigerating equipment. ==Major achievements==