Andrei Mikhnevich

Andrei Mikhnevich

Mikhnevich at the 2011 World championships Athletics in Daegu.
Personal information
Born July 12, 1976
Height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 145 kg (320 lb)
Sport
Country  Belarus
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Shot put
Updated on 15 August 2012.

Andrei Anatolyevich Mikhnevich (Belarusian: Андрэй Міхневіч, Andrej Michnievič, Russian: Андрей Анатольевич Михневич; born 12 July 1976 in Babruysk) is a Belarusian shot putter with a personal best of 21.69 metres, set in 2003.

He started competing at global championships in 1999 and attended the 2000 Summer Olympics, but he was banned for a doping offence in 2001. He returned after a two year suspension and promptly became the shot put world champion at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. He took part in the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2005 World Championships but failed to reach the global podium over this period.

He had a resurgence of form in 2006, taking silver at the IAAF World Indoor Championships as well as silver at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. He won the bronze at the 2007 World Championships and took his first Olympic honour, another bronze medal, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won indoor world silver for a second time at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the gold medal at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.

He was given a lifetime ban for doping by the Belarus Athletics Federation in 2013, retroactive to 2005. Mikhnevich is appealing the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[1]

Career

He made his first major championships appearance at the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships and he finished eighth overall. He also attended the 1999 World Championships in Athletics that year but did not reach the final. His first Olympics soon followed at the 2000 Sydney Games where he finished ninth in the shot put final.[2]

He received a two-year suspension for a doping offence on 7 August 2001.[2] Only 17 days after his suspension ended he became world champion in Paris with a personal best throw of 21.69 metres. He also won the Universiade the same year. His best performance in the following two years was a fifth place at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In 2006 he finished second both at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow, with a new personal indoor best throw of 21.37 metres, and the 2006 European Championships with 21.11. He followed this with a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships.[2]

He finished fifth at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships but rebounded to peak with a 22.00 m personal best in July and taking his first Olympic medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the form of a bronze. This medal would later be retracted and awarded to Canadian rival Dylan Armstrong, for doping offences. He sank back down the rankings at the 2009 World Championships, finishing seventh, but he gained his second indoor silver at the 2010 World Indoors a few months later.[2] He set a national indoor record of 21.81 m in Mogilev, Belarus, and continued his good form with a win at the 2010 European Cup Winter Throwing meeting.[3] He followed that victory by winning the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.[4]

His wife is fellow shot-putter Natallia Mikhnevich, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Personal bests

Event Best (m) Venue Date
Shot put (outdoor) 21.69 Paris Saint-Denis (Stade de France) 23 August 2003
Shot put (indoor) 20.85 Minsk, Belarus 30 January 2004

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Belarus
1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 8th
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 9th
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 10th 20.42 m
2003 World Championships Paris, France 1st 21.69 m = PB
Universiade Daegu, South Korea 1st
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 3rd
2004 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 7th
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 5th 20.60 m
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 7th
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 6th
World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 7th
2006 World Indoor Championships Moscow, Russia 2nd 21.37 m = PB
European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 2nd 21.11 m
2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, England 25th
World Championships Osaka, Japan 3rd
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 3rd
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 4th
Olympic Games Beijing, PR China 3rd
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 2nd
European Cup Winter Throwing Arles, France 1st 21.04 m
2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 1st 21.01 m
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 3rd 21.40 m

References

  1. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/belarusian-shot-putter-gets-life-ban-doping
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mikhnevich, Andrei. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-23.
  3. Mikhnevich and Müller put on a show at the European Cup Winter Throwing. European Athletics (2010-03-20). Retrieved on 2010-03-23.
  4. "Lewis-Francis accepts blame for 4x100m relay disaster". BBC Sport. 31 July 2010. Archived from the original on 2 August 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.

External links