Lesia Severynivna Leskiv (also ''Lessia Leskiv'', uk, Леся Северинівна Леськів; born 17 October 1963 in

Rohatyn Rohatyn ( uk, Рогатин, pl, Rohatyn) is a city located on the Hnyla Lypa River in Ivano-Frankivsk Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Rohatyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. P ...

) is a Ukrainian sport shooter. She represented

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in rifle shooting in the Olympic Games in 1996,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, and 2004, finishing within the top fifteen in the games. Leskiv also earned four medals (three silvers and one bronze) at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, and five more, including three golds, at the European Championships, bringing them up to her remarkable career tally of nine. A full-fledged member of the Lvov Army Forces, Leskiv trained for the shooting club under her personal coach Vadym Vysochyn. Leskiv started out as a member of the Soviet shooting squad at the 1984

Friendship Games The Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (russian: Дружба-84, ''Druzhba-84''), was an international multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many differ ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, where she took home the silver medal in the rifle three positions. Although she missed out a chance to compete in two succeeding editions of the Olympic Games, Leskiv managed to successfully claim four medals, three silvers and one bronze, in rifle shooting at the

ISSF World Shooting Championships The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these earl ...

between 1982 and 1994. Following

's official debut at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

as an independent nation, Leskiv was selected to compete for the nation's Olympic shooting squad. She wound up an eighth spot in the

10 m air rifle 10 metre air rifle (N.B. For "Meter" in this article – read "Metre") is an International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) shooting event, shot at a bullseye target over a distance of using a calibre air rifle with a maximum weight of . It ...

, and then shared a ninth position with Switzerland's Gaby Bühlmann and Germany's Petra Horneber in the 50 m rifle 3 positions, accumulating a tally of 494.2 and 579 points, respectively. 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 ...

in Sydney, Leskiv dropped her position from the previous Games to fifteenth with a score of 392 points in the

. She redeemed herself with a score of 579 in the prelims to share the ninth spot with Norway's Lindy Hansen in the 50 m rifle 3 positions, but fell short of a chance to compete for the final by a single point. Eight years after competing in her first Olympics, Leskiv qualified for her third Ukrainian team, as a 40-year-old, in rifle shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

by finishing seventh and having achieved a minimum score of 398 in the 10 m air rifle from the 2004 ISSF World Cup series. In the women's 10 m air rifle, Leskiv finished fourteenth in the prelims with a total score of 394, tying her position with five other shooters including her teammate Natallia Kalnysh. On her second event, the 50 m rifle 3 positions, Leskiv got off to a rough start in the prone with 192 points and then continued to drop rapidly into the bottom of the field by a two-point deficit in the standing position with 190. Ending towards the kneeling series smoothly with a satisfying shot of 193, Leskiv collected a total of 575 points to share a thirteenth spot with Bühlmann and India's

Anjali Bhagwat Anjali Bhagwat (born 5 December 1969) is a professional Indian sport shooter. She became the World Number One in 10m Air Rifle in 2002. She also won her first World Cup Final in Milan, in 2003, with a score of 399/400. Anjali won the ISSF ...

in the prelims, but failed to advance further into the final round by a four-point deficit.

Olympic results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leskiv, Lessia 1963 births Living people Ukrainian female sport shooters Olympic shooters for Ukraine Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics People from Rohatyn Shooters at the 2015 European Games European Games competitors for Ukraine Sportspeople from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast