Mariya Lasitskene

Mariya Lasitskene

Personal information
Born	(1993-01-14) 14 January 1993[1] Prokhladny, Russia
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)[2]
Sport
Country	Russia (2009–2016) Authorised Neutral Athletes (2017–)
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	High jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	2.06 cm
Medal record World Championships 2015 Beijing High jump World Indoor Championships 2014 Sopot High jump European Championships 2014 Zürich High jump European Indoor Championships 2015 Praha High Jump European Junior Championships 2011 Tallinn High Jump Youth Olympic Games 2010 Singapore High jump World Junior Championships 2012 Barcelona High jump World Youth Championships 2009 Brixen High jump

Mariya Aleksandrovna Lasitskene (Russian: Мария Александровна Ласицкене; née Kuchina (Russian: Кучина, Lithuanian: Marija Lasickienė); born 14 January 1993) is a Russian track and field athlete who specialises in the high jump. She won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships.

Career

Kuchina won her first international medal at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where she cleared a personal best of 1.85 m to take the silver medal behind Italian Alessia Trost.^[3] She was also the silver medallist at the 2009 European Youth Olympic Festival and 2009 Gymnasiade.^[4][5]

In the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, Kuchina won a gold medal in the girls' high jump with a clearance of 1.86 m, ahead of Alessia Trost.^[6]

She started her 2011 season with a major scalp in the form of Yelena Slesarenko, who she defeated with an indoor best jump of 1.90 m.^[7] A greater effort soon followed on the Moravia High Jump Tour meet in Třinec, as she cleared 1.97 m to claim the world junior indoor best which Desislava Aleksandrova had held since 1994.^[8]

Kuchina won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships with a personal best of 2.01 m. Kuchina has also won the gold medal both at the 2014 World Indoor Championships and at the 2015 European Indoor Championships. Kuchina has also won the silver medal at the 2014 European Championships.

Following her world championships win, she was considered a favorite to win the Olympic title at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. However, her dreams were cut short when the CAS upheld their decision to ban the Russian Track and Field Federation from the Games. Interestingly, at a domestic competition she jumped a height of 2.00m—a height that would've easily won gold in Rio—only 2 hours after she learned that she would not get to compete at the olympics. In April 2017, her application to compete as a neutral athlete until Russia is reinstated was accepted; this will allow Kuchina to resume competition despite the federation's ban. Her first competition back was the third Diamond League in the series at Eugene. She won the women's high jump with a personal best and world leading height of 2.03m.

She improved to 2.04m on June 11, 2017 in Hengelo. On July 6, 2017 she set a new personal best at the Diamond League in Lausanne with a height of 2.06m, a Diamond League record.

International competitions

Personal bests

See also

• Female two metres club

References

External links

• Mariya Lasitskene profile at IAAF

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Aníta Hinriksdóttir	Women's European Athletics Rising Star of the Year 2014	Succeeded by Noemi Zbären
Sporting positions
Preceded by Brigetta Barrett	Women's High Jump Best Year Performance 2014 (tied with Anna Chicherova and Ruth Beitia)	Succeeded by Anna Chicherova