Bohdan Bondarenko

Bohdan Bondarenko

Bondarenko on the 2013 World Championships in Athletics
Personal information
Born	(1989-08-30) August 30, 1989 Kharkiv, Ukraine
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb)
Sport
Country	Ukraine
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	High jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	High jump outdoor: 2.41 m (2013) High jump indoor: 2.27 m (2009)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 1 0 0 Universiade 1 0 0 European Team Championships 1 0 0 World Junior Championships 1 0 1 European U23 Championships 1 0 0 World Championships Gold 2013 Moscow High jump World Junior Championships Gold 2008 Bydgoszcz High jump Bronze 2006 Beijing High jump European U23 Championships Gold 2011 Ostrava High jump Summer Universiade Gold 2011 Shenzhen High jump

Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukrainian: Богдан Бондаренко; born 30 August 1989) is a Ukrainian high jumper. His personal best jump is 2.41 metres^[1]- a Ukrainian national record – set in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 4 July 2013 at Athletissima, the stage of the 2013 IAAF Diamond League. His 2.41 jump places him third on the Men's All-Time list, only behind Javier Sotomayor and Patrik Sjöberg. His indoor best is 2.27 metres. He uses the Fosbury Flop technique, jumping off his right leg. He is one of the tallest high jumpers competing on the elite Diamond League circuit, standing 1.97 meters (6' 5-1/2"). Bondarenko is the 2013 recipient of the European Athlete of the Year Trophy.^[2]

Early life and education

Bondarenko was born in Kharkiv, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union.

Athletics career

Coaching and professional support

Bondarenko is coached by his father Viktor Bondarenko.^[2] When Bohdan won the European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2013 his father (and thus trainer) received a trainer's award of the European Athletics Association.^[2]

Junior competitions and early senior career

In 2005 he had a jump of 2.15 metres, achieved in September in Yalta, and in January 2006 in Kiev, he improved to 2.21 on the indoor track. In August 2006 he competed at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing.^[3] With a jump of 2.14 metres in the qualifying round, he barely managed to reach the final round, where – at age 16 – he was the youngest finalist. Six athletes recorded 2.14 metres, and only two of them reached the final, due to having fewer fouls in the competition.^[4] In the final, however, Bondarenko improved greatly to win the bronze medal with a jump of 2.26 metres. The competition was dominated by the duel behind gold medallist Huang Haiqiang and silver medallist Niki Palli.^[5] In 2007 he improved his indoor best mark to 2.25 at a meet in Kiev in February. In the outdoor season, he only managed 2.19 metres.^[3]

World Junior Champion Outdoors 2008

In 2008, Bondarenko was eligible for his second World Junior Championships. He had not recorded a notable result during the indoor season,^[3] but with a jump of 2.25 metres he qualified for the 2008 World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, leading the season's list for juniors.^[6] This time, all jumpers with 2.14 in the qualifying round passed on to the final.^[7] In the final, Bondarenko cleared every height from 2.08 through 2.26 on the first attempt, except for one miss at 2.21 metres.^[8] This was enough to win the gold medal, ahead of Sylwester Bednarek, who placed fourth two years earlier, and Miguel Ángel Sancho. Pre-event favorite Karim Samir Lofty disappointed greatly, ending in last place.^[6]

In the 2008–09 indoor season, Bondarenko recorded a new career best as he jumped 2.27 in February in Lódz.^[3] Entering the 2009 European Indoor Championships, he managed to equal this height in the qualifying round, which gave him a place in the final. Here, he entered at 2.15, passed 2.20 in his second attempt but failed at 2.25. He ended in ninth and last place.^[9]

2012 London Olympics

He set a new personal best of 2.31 on 17 June 2012, jumping in his native Ukraine at Mykolaiv. Bondarenko was a finalist at the 2012 London Summer Olympics on 7 August 2012, clearing 2.29 and finishing in 7th place. Only 2 men jumped higher, as Bondarenko and five other jumpers ended their competition at 2.29, with the places determined by the countback: there was a 3-way tie for the third place bronze medal (based on clearing 2.29 on their first try), with Bondarenko relegated to seventh because he needed two attempts to clear that height.

2013 Outdoor Season, Soaring to New Heights

Bondarenko does not appear to have competed on the Indoor circuit the last few years: his indoor best of 2.27 dates to February 2009, and his outdoor personal best (PB) of 2.31 was set in June 2012. He bested that by jumping 2.33 in his first two Diamond League meets in 2013, beginning with the season's first Diamond League meet at Doha, UAE on 10 May, then again at Shanghai, China, on 18 May. He won 8 of his first 9 competitions. After his win at Doha, Bondarenko told EME News that his victory was unexpected: “I had two pre-season training camps in Yevpatoriya where I injured my take-off (right) knee in the end of April. I was able to make only one technical practice one week before my first performance this season. Moreover in Doha I felt discomfort not only in the knee but also in the feet I had operated in 2009. Pain accompanied me at all attempts (in Doha) but such physical conditions became usual for me during last three years” said 23-year-old Ukrainian.

Bondarenko then set another new PB on Sunday 30 June, winning the Sainsbury's Grand Prix meeting (a Diamond League competition) in Birmingham, England with a jump of 2.36, which tied the meet record and bested Eric Kynard of the USA, who finished second with a jump of 2.34. Less than a week later, he soared to 2.41 at another Diamond League meet, the Athletissima, at Lausanne, Switzerland. That was the highest jump in the world since 1994. By clearing 2.41, Bondarenko also broke the Ukrainian national record of 2.40, set by Rudolf Povarnitsyn in 1985 (which was then a new world record.) Bondarenko was pushed to 2.41 by American Eric Kynard. They were the only jumpers remaining after 2.33 and engaged in a "passing" duel- Kynard took the lead with a first attempt clearance of 2.33, Bondarenko passed, but then cleared 2.35 on his first attempt. Kynard missed at 2.35, then passed to 2.37, clearing on his first attempt to retake the lead as Bondarenko passed. When Bondarenko then cleared 2.39 on his first try, Kynard missed and then used his two remaining attempts at 2.41 (unsuccessfully.) Bondarenko cleared 2.41 (7 feet, 11 inches) on his third try (only his 7th jump of the competition): video of his 2.41 clearance shows him taking off nearly 4 feet away from the bar and clearing it cleanly (if only barely). He then made 3 excellent attempts at a new world record of 2.46-- on each of his 3 attempts he succeeded in getting his head, shoulders and back over the bar, but not his hips.

On Friday 26 July, competing in yet another Diamond League meet – the Anniversary Games in London's 2012 Olympic Stadium – Bondarenko again bested Eric Kynard, winning with a jump of 2.38 (7' 9-3/4") to Kynard's 2.36. Bondarenko did not even begin jumping until 2.28 (7' 5-3/4"), the highest "opening" height ever in a Diamond League event. He secured the win after just his third jump and then had the bar raised to 2.43 (7' 11 1/2") – one centimeter above the European record set by Sweden's Patrik Sjöberg in 1987. He made one excellent attempt and despite knocking the bar off, he felt confident enough to have the bar raised for a world record attempt of 2.47 (8 feet, one and one-quarter inch), threatening the 20-year world record of 2.45 held by Cuba's Javier Sotomayor. Although his two attempts at 2.47 failed, the experience was rewarding.^[11][12]

2013 Moscow World Championship

At the end of an exciting competition, in which 3 athletes (the other two being Derek Drouin and Mutaz Essa Barshim) were still jumping at 2.41m, Bondarenko was the only one to clear that mark, thus equaling his personal best and world leading jump and breaking Javier Sotomayor's Championship record. He needed to in order to win the competition, since he had passed 2.38, a height cleared by both his opponents. Drouin failed his 3 attempts at 2.41, while Barshim, after his first attempt, saved the remaining two for the following height of 2.44 (which Bondarenko had passed), but couldn't get it, settling for silver. With the gold medal around his neck, Bondarenko had another go at the world record, once again unsuccessfully.

Competition record

International competitions

Awards

• European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2013^[2]
• Track & Field Athlete of the Year 2013

Also

• High jump all-time lists

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bohdan Bondarenko.

• Bohdan Bondarenko profile at IAAF

Awards
Preceded by David Rudisha	Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 2013	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Mo Farah	Men's European Athlete of the Year 2013	Succeeded by Incumbent