Bohdan Viktorovych Bondarenko ( uk, Богдан Вікторович Бондаренко; born 30 August 1989) is a Ukrainian
high jumper. He is the
2013 World champion,
2014 European champion, and
2016 Olympic bronze medalist.
Bondarenko 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 1.98 meters (6' 6"). On 14 June 2014, he achieved his personal best jump of 2.42 metres at the
2014 IAAF Diamond League event in
New York City. The jump is a European record and places him joint third on the men's all-time list, behind
Javier Sotomayor
Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban retired track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; hi ...
and
Mutaz Essa Barshim and tied with
Patrik Sjöberg
Jan Niklas Patrik Sjöberg (; born 5 January 1965) is a Swedish former high jumper. He broke the world record with in Stockholm on 30 June 1987. This mark is still the European record and ranks him third on the world all-time list behind Javi ...
. His indoor best is 2.27 metres.
Athletics career
Coaching and professional support
Bondarenko is coached by his father Viktor Bondarenko.
[ 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
The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...
.[ In a May 2016 interview for the IAAF's official website, Bondarenko said of his father, "I have always understood him and he has always understood me. Many sportsmen cannot be coached by their parents, but for me he has been very good."
]
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 Kyiv, he improved to 2.21 on the indoor track. In August 2006 he competed at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
. 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. 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. In 2007 he improved his indoor best mark to 2.25 at a meet in Kyiv in February. In the outdoor season, he only managed 2.19 metres.[
]
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,[ but with a jump of 2.25 metres he qualified for the 2008 World Junior Championships in ]Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
, leading the season's list for juniors. This time, all jumpers with 2.14 in the qualifying round passed on to the final. 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. 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.
In the 2008–09 indoor season, Bondarenko recorded a new career best as he jumped 2.27 in February in Lódz.[ Entering the ]2009 European Indoor Championships
The 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Turin, Italy, from Friday, 6 March to Sunday, 8 March 2009. The championships took place at the Oval Lingotto indoor arena , 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.
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 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London 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
Bondarenko seems not to have competed on the indoor circuit during the previous years. His indoor best of 2.27 dated 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, in July 2013, Bondarenko cleared 2.41 metres at another Diamond League meet, the Athletissima, in 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 three excellent attempts at a new world record of 2.46—on each of his three 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
Jan Niklas Patrik Sjöberg (; born 5 January 1965) is a Swedish former high jumper. He broke the world record with in Stockholm on 30 June 1987. This mark is still the European record and ranks him third on the world all-time list behind Javi ...
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
Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban retired track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; hi ...
. Although his two attempts at 2.47 failed, the experience was rewarding.
2013 Moscow World Championship
In August, Bondarenko competed at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Russia. With three athletes (the other two being Derek Drouin and Mutaz Essa Barshim) still jumping at 2.41m, Bondarenko was the only one to clear that mark, thus equalling his personal best and world leading jump and breaking Javier Sotomayor
Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban retired track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; hi ...
'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.
Bondarenko was awarded the 2013 European Athlete of the Year trophy.
2014
Early in the season, Ivan Ukhov
Ivan Sergeyevich Ukhov (russian: Иван Сергеевич Ухов; born 29 March 1986) is a Russian high jumper. He won a gold medal at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships and is a two-time European Indoor champion (2009 and 2011). He ...
and then Mutaz Essa Barshim equalled Bondarenko's 2.41m making for the trio of contemporary athletes having cleared the third highest height in history.
May 11, Tokyo (1st, 2.40m). Bondarenko won the Diamond League meeting in Tokyo with a jump of 2.40m (7 ft-10.5in) in Tokyo on Sunday, beating the Olympic Champion Ivan Ukhov, who could manage "only" 2.34m (just two days after he cleared 2.41m to win in Doha on 9 May.)
June 5, Rome (2nd, 2.34m). All of the top high jumpers were entered in the "Golden Gala" Diamond League meet in Rome. After clearing 2.34m, Bondarenko elected to pass attempts at 2.37 and 2.41, the later which was cleared by Mutaz Essa Barshim. Bondarenko then had three close attempts at what would have been a European record of 2.43m.
June 8, Marrakesh (1st, 2.39m). Competing at the 7th Mohammed VI d’Athletisme IAAF World Challenge meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco on 8 June, Bondarenko won the meet when cleared 2.39m on his second try – just his fourth leap of the entire competition, having made first try jumps at 2.25m and 2.33m. The 2.39m is an African "All Comers" record, the highest jump ever on the African continent. Bondarenko then had the bar raised to world record height of 2.46m and made three unsuccessful attempts. Traditionally held in Rabat, this year the Mohammed VI d’Athletisme meeting was moved to the Grand Stade de Marrakech.
June 14, New York City (1st, 2.42m). The following week at the Adidas Grand Prix
The USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, United States. First started in 2005 as the Reebok Grand Prix and then Adidas Grand Prix, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events. ...
, Icahn Stadium, New York City, on Saturday afternoon June 14, Bondarenko and Barshim were locked in a tight competition, with both improving to 2.42m (on their first attempts), equalling Patrick Sjoberg's former world record from 1987 as the second best jumpers outdoors in history. khov_and_Carlo_Thränhardt_(1988)_have_also_jumped_that_height_under_more_controlled_conditions_indoors..html" ;"title="Carlo_Thränhardt.html" ;"title="khov and khov_and_Carlo_Thränhardt_(1988)_have_also_jumped_that_height_under_more_controlled_conditions_indoors.">Carlo_Thränhardt.html"_;"title="khov_and_Carlo_Thränhardt">khov_and_Carlo_Thränhardt_(1988)_have_also_jumped_that_height_under_more_controlled_conditions_indoors.Still_in_competition,_Bondarenko—whose_clearance_of_2.42m_was_just_his_fifth_jump_of_the_day—then_passed_while_Barshim_took_one_failed_attempt_at_2.44m._Saving_his_strength,_Bondarenko_took_all_three_of_his_attempts_at_a_world_record_height_of_2.46,_while_Barshim_took_his_remaining_two_attempts_at_2.46m_to_try_to_beat_Javier_Sotomayor_
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's_world_record_of_2.45m_that_has_stood_since_1993._Almost_incidental,_Bondarenko_won_the_competition_on_fewer_misses._(Barshim_clearing_of_2.42_and_attempt_on_2.46_were_much_better_than_Bodarenko's.)_Bondarenko_now_joins_Sjoberg_in_possession_of_the_List_of_European_records_in_athletics.html" ;"title="Carlo Thränhardt">khov and
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