Iryna Vasiliyevna Yatchenko ( be, Ірына Ятчанка, russian: Ирина Васильевна Ятченко; born 31 October 1965) is a

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

former discus thrower best known for winning two Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

s at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, although she was eventually stripped of the latter medal due to a doping offence. She also became world champion at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

. Her personal best is 69.14 metres, achieved in July 2004 in Minsk.

Career

Yatchenko was born in Gomel. Her career at the highest level of competition lasted almost twenty years, starting with the

1990 European Athletics Championships The 15th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 August to 2 September 1990 in Split, Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. The host stadium was Stadion Poljud. It was the last participation of East Germany (which was already scheduled to be merged ...

. She threw the discus at five editions of the Olympic Games, competing at all Games from the

1992 Barcelona Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

to the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. 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 The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, 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 The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (, ) was one of many national Olympic committees that make up the International Olympic Committee. On February 26, 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its treatment of ...

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. Yatchenko is married to

Igor Astapkovich Ihar Astapkovich (also Igor Vyacheslavovich Astapkovich, be, Ігар Вячаслававіч Астапковіч; born 4 January 1963, in Navapolatsk) is a hammer thrower who won two Olympic medals, first representing the Soviet Union and lat ...

, also an Olympic medalist in hammer throw.Irina Yatchenko
. sports-reference.com

Doping case

When the IOC in 2012 re-analysed stored samples from the

, Yatchenko's sample was found positive for the anabolic steroid Methandienone. IOC subsequently disqualified her results from the Athens Olympics and she was made to return the bronze medal and diploma.IOC
IOC disqualifies four medallists from Athens 2004 following further analysis of stored samples
olympic.org, 5 December 2012 The IAAF also banned her for two years from sports and disqualified all her results from 21 August 2004 – 20 August 2006.

Achievements

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yatchenko, Iryna 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Gomel Belarusian female discus throwers Doping cases in athletics Belarusian sportspeople in doping cases Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Belarus Olympic bronze medalists for Belarus World Athletics Championships medalists Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals Belarusian masters athletes Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games