Iryna Yatchenko

Medal record
Women's athletics
Competitor for  Belarus
Olympic Games
Bronze 2000 Sydney Discus
Bronze 2004 Athens Discus
World Championships
Gold 2003 Paris Discus

Iryna Vasiliyevna Yatchenko (Belarusian: Ірына Ятчанка, Russian: Ирина Ятченко) (born October 31, 1965 in Gomel) is a Belarusian former discus thrower best known for winning two Olympic bronze medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics. She also became world champion at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. Her personal best is 69.14 metres, achieved in July 2004 in Minsk.

Her career at the highest level of competition lasted almost twenty years, starting with the 1990 European Athletics Championships. She threw the discus at five editions of the Olympic Games, competing at all Games from the 1992 Barcelona Games to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Yatchenko's World Championship career was similarly extensive, as she took part on eight separate occasions.

Yatchenko's final major competition was the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, but she failed to register a valid throw in the qualifying rounds. She retired from international competition in June 2010 and the Belarus National Olympic Committee held a ceremony to honour her career. At the age of 44, she was one of the last athletes to retire who had previously represented the Soviet Union in international athletics.[1]

Yatchenko is married to Igor Astapkovich, a hammer thrower.

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Soviet Union
1990 Goodwill Games Seattle, United States 2nd[2] 67.04 m
European Championships Split, Yugoslavia 5th[3] 65.16 m
1991 World Championships Tokyo, Japan 7th 64.92 m
Representing  Unified Team
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 7th 63.74 m
IAAF Grand Prix Final Turin, Italy 3rd Second on season's points[4]
Representing  Belarus
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 9th 60.48 m
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 12th 60.46 m
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 5th 62.58 m
1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary 8th[5] 61.20 m
1999 World Championships Seville, Spain 9th 62.99 m
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 3rd 65.20 m
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 9th 59.45 m
2003 World Championships Paris, France 1st 67.32 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 8th
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 3rd 66.17 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 3rd
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 10th 59.65 m
2007 World Championships Paris, France 10th 62.63 m
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 11th 59.27 m
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany NM No mark

References

  1. ^ 2003 world champion Irina Yatchenko announces her retirement. European Athletics (2010-06-04). Retrieved on 2010-06-07.
  2. ^ Goodwill Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-06-07.
  3. ^ 1990 European Championships, women's results
  4. ^ IAAF Grand Prix Final. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-06-07.
  5. ^ 1998 European Championships, women's results
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Natalya Sadova		 Women's Discus Best Year Performance
2004		 Succeeded by
Vera Pospíšilová