International Women’s Day is a good reason to remember and support the achievements of women in various areas of life. We at Run Ukraine decided to use this chance to tell you about outstanding Ukrainian female athletes and their victories.
Liudmyla Shevtsova: record holder and winner of the Olympics
Liudmyla Shevtsova is the first Ukrainian woman to have won a medal in athletics in the Olympics. In 1960 she set the world r ecord by running 800 meters in 02 min 4.3 sec. That same year she repeated it in the Olympics in Rome and won the gold.
On the 60th anniversary of this record, Liudmyla became the inspiration of the anniversary 5th INTERPIPE DNIPRO HALF MARATHON 2020 as her victorious race was depicted on the finisher medals of all courses.
Inesa Kravets: current world record holder in the triple jump, won the first Olympic gold in athletics for independent Ukraine
In 1995 Inesa Kravets set the world record in the outdoor triple jump. So far, her record remains unbeaten, as in 26 years no one has managed to surpass her result.
Inessa also has two Olympic medals: silver – for the long jump in 1992 in Barcelona (7.12 m); gold – for the triple jump in 1996 in Atlanta (15.33 m).
Inha Babakova: Olympic winner in the high jump, current world record holder in the age category 35+
In 1996 in Atlanta Inha Babakova won the Olympic bronze in the high jump (2.01 m). The athlete later won silver and gold in world championships. In 2003 in Oslo she set the world record that remains unbeaten to this day – she performed a high jump of 2.01 m in the age group 35+.
After she finished her athletic career, Inha trained Vita Stopina, a bronze medalist in the Olympic high jump.
Olena Hovorova: Olympic medalist and promoter of a healthy lifestyle
In 2000 Olena Hovorova won an Olympic bronze in the triple jump with her best result of 14.96 meters. After finishing her athletic career, she tried herself on TV. She was an Herbalife24 ambassador at Run Ukraine events in 2018-2019 and went through all the cities of the Ukrainian Majors Running League.
Now Olena is actively promoting sports: she is the first vice-president of the Athletics Federation of Ukraine (FLAU), deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration for self-government, is a member of the executive committee of the NOC of Ukraine, is a non-staff adviser to Andriy Yermak.
Natalia Dobrynska: an Olympic medal winner and an all-around record holder
In 2008 in Beijing Natalia won the second Olympic gold for Ukraine by earning 6733 points in the heptathlon. Four years later she set the world record in the pentathlon.
Currently, Natalia is the Deputy Chairman of the Athletes Commission of the NOC of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Women in Sports Commission of the NOC of Ukraine, and the FLAU Athletes Committee. The athlete has a star in her honor in the Square of Stars in Kyiv for her contribution to the sports life of Ukraine.
Iryna Lishchynska: Olympic and World Championship winner
The Olympics of 2008 were very fruitful for the Ukrainian athlete — Iryna Lishchynska won silver in 1500 m running. Her result of 4:01.63 min is not the best in her career — Iryna’s personal best is 4:00,04 min on the 1500 m distance.
After she had to move to Kyiv in 2014, Iryna joined the Run Ukraine team and is developing amateur sports. She has held dozens of open training sessions and lectures that helped thousands of amateur athletes fall in love with sports.
Olha Saladukha: Olympic winner, three-time European champion, and promoter of sports
Olga Saladukha has won a bronze medal in the triple jump at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, has earned a victory at the World Championships, three victories at the European Championships, and several national records.
Currently, Olga is the Chairman of the Commission of Athletes of the NOC of Ukraine, the People’s Deputy of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Sports of Excellence and Sports Activities of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Youth and Sports.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh: “The Rising Star” — the today of Ukrainian athletics
Yaroslava will turn 20 years old in September 2021, but she already holds several high jump records: national and world among juniors.
In February of this year, at the competitions in Slovakia, Yaroslava demonstrated the best result of the season in the indoor high jump, taking the height of 2.06 m from the first attempt. With this result, she also set the record of Ukraine. The athlete is the European champion among juniors and the world champion. In 2019, she received the title of “The Rising Star”. Yaroslava is preparing to represent Ukraine at the Olympic Games, which are to take place in the late summer of 2021 in Tokyo.