Lyudmyla Holovchenko ( uk, Людмила Головченко; born August 31, 1978, in

Khmelnytskyi Khmelnytskyi ( uk, Хмельни́цький, Khmelnytskyi, ), until 1954 Proskuriv ( uk, Проску́рів, links=no ), is a city in western Ukraine, the administrative center for Khmelnytskyi Oblast (region) and Khmelnytskyi Raion (distr ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

) is a retired amateur Ukrainian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the women's middleweight category. She boasted a fourth-place finish in the 63-kg division at the

2003 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 2003 World Wrestling Championships. The Freestyle Competition was held in New York City, United States, while the Greco-Roman Competition was held in Créteil, France. Medal table Team ranking Medal su ...

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and later seized an opportunity to compete for

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 ...

at the

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), ...

. Holovchenko also trained throughout her sporting career as a member of the women's freestyle wrestling team for CSK Belaya Zerkov in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, under her personal coach Serhiy Basitsi. When women's wrestling made its debut at the

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 ...

, Holovchenko qualified for the Ukrainian squad in the 63 kg class. Earlier in the process, she earned an Olympic spot by finishing fourth at the World Championships. Holovchenko lost two straight matches each to eventual Olympic champion

Saori Yoshida is a Japanese former freestyle wrestler. Starting in 1998 she won almost every major competition, including three Olympic Games, four Asian Games, and 13 world championships, and became the most decorated athlete in freestyle wrestling history. ...

of Japan on technical superiority and neighboring Russia's

Alena Kartashova Alena Vladimirovna Kartashova (born January 23, 1982) is a wrestler from Russia. She won a silver medal in the women's freestyle 63 kg at the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () an ...

with a comfortable 7–0 verdict, leaving her on the bottom of the pool and placing last out of twelve wrestlers in the final standings.

References

External links

* 1978 births Living people Ukrainian female sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Ukraine Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine 20th-century Ukrainian women 21st-century Ukrainian women {{Ukraine-wrestling-bio-stub