[1] Kutsenko was born and spent his childhood in Tavrovo, Belgorodsky District, Belgorod Oblast, learning at the village eight-year school and playing football, volleyball, ice hockey, and lapta in his free time.

He then had served in the Soviet Army for two years and worked in the boiler factory Energomash in Belgorod since 1974.

There was a sports club Ellada by the factory, where he was invited to train in the athletics section.

Kutsenko competed for the USSR in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow in the decathlon where he won the silver medal.

After the Olympics, Kutsenko returned to the factory Energomash, where he worked as a blacksmith for twenty years.