Marina Shmonina (born 9 February 1965) is an athlete who represented the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and later

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. She specialized in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

and

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. Born in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз� ...

, Shmonina competed for the

Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics The Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics (russian: Объединённая команда на летних Олимпийских играх 1992) in Barcelona, Spain, was a joint team consisting of twelve of the fifteen former Soviet Union ...

, in the heats of the relay competition. When the team of

Yelena Ruzina Yelena Ivanovna Ruzina (russian: Елена Ивановна Рузина) (born 3 April 1964 in Voronezh) is a retired athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She represented the Soviet Union and later, Russia. She competed for Commonwealt ...

, Lyudmila Dzhigalova,

Olga Nazarova Olga Vladimirovna Nazarova (russian: Ольга Владимировна Назарова), born 1 June 1965) is a Russian former track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She represented the Soviet Union. She won two Olymp ...

and

Olga Bryzgina Olha Bryzhina ( uk, Ольга Бризгіна, maiden name Olga Arkad'evna Vladykina; russian: Ольга Аркадьевна Владыкина; born June 30, 1963 in Krasnokamsk, Perm Oblast) is a retired athlete who represented Soviet Union ...

won the final, Shmonina was also awarded the gold medal. Shmonina was hailed in Uzbekistan as the first Uzbek athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

Doping

At the

1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 4th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from March 12 to March 14, 1993. It was the last Indoor Championships to feature the 5,000 and 3,000 metres race walk events. In addition, it ...

Shmonina tested positive for the anabolic steroid

stanozolol Stanozolol (Abbreviation, abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceuti ...

and the Russian 4x400 relay team lost the gold medal. Shmonina was also handed a four-year ban from sports for the anti-doping rule violation.Sports Reference - Marina Shmonina
/ref>

Achievements

* At both the 1990 Europeans and 1992 Olympics Shmonina ran in the heats but not the final. * At the 1993 World Indoors, the Russians were the original winners in 3:28.90. They were disqualified due to Shmonina failing a drugs test.

References

External links

* *
1965 births Living people Doping cases in athletics Russian sportspeople in doping cases Russian female sprinters Soviet female sprinters Uzbekistani female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic athletes of the Unified Team Sportspeople from Tashkent Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Olympic female sprinters {{Uzbekistan-athletics-bio-stub