Olesya Povh ( uk, Олеся Іванівна Повх (''Olesya Ivanivna Povkh''); born 18 October 1987) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

former sprint athlete who specialized in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

. Her personal best times include 11.08 seconds in the 100 m, achieved in June 2012. She is an Olympic Games bronze medalist, World Championships bronze medalist, European Championships gold and silver medalist, and European Indoor Championships gold medalist.

Early life

Povh is Jewish, and was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. She graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in 2010 and chose to focus on

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

full-time in 2011.

Career

Povh had her first year of international competition in 2010. She reached the semi-finals of the

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation ...

and won a relay bronze medal with Ukraine at the

2010 European Team Championships The second SPAR European Team Championships took place on 19 and 20 June 2010. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008. The 20 ...

. She gained selection for the 100 m at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

and was eliminated in the semi-finals. However, she went on to have success at the competition as part of the Ukrainian

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

team: running with

Nataliya Pohrebnyak Nataliya Olehivna Pohrebniak ( uk, Наталія Олегівна Погребняк, born 19 February 1988) is a Russian- Ukrainian sprint athlete who specializes in the 100 metres. Pohrebniak (with Yelizaveta Bryzhina, Mariya Ryemyen and Ol ...

Mariya Ryemyen Mariya Ryemyen ( uk, Марія Рємєнь; born 2 August 1987, Makiivka) is a Ukrainian sprint athlete who specializes in the 100 metres. Ryemyen was part (with Nataliya Pohrebnyak, Olesya Povh and Yelizaveta Bryzhina) of the Ukrainian women ...

, and Yelyzaveta Bryzhina, the team won the gold medal in a national record time of 42.29 seconds – the fastest mark in the world that year. The team reprised their roles for the

2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 200 ...

, representing Europe, and took the silver medal behind the Americas team. Povh began 2011 with a 60 metres best run of 7.14 seconds, gaining selection for the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London she and her teammates

Khrystyna Stuy Khrystyna Stuy ( uk, Христина Стуй; born 3 February 1988 in Uhryniv) is a Ukrainian sprint athlete who specializes in the 100 metres. Career Stuy competed in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2009 World Championships without reachi ...

, Mariya Ryemyen, and Yelyzaveta Bryzhina won the bronze medals in the

by setting a new national record. On the eve of the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

, Povh failed a drug test and was suspended from competing in the championships. In March 2019, the CAS confirmed that Povh committed the anti-doping rule infractions and confirmed the UAF Executive Committee decisions about the disqualification of Povh for four years starting from 15 June 2016.https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/CAS_Media_Release_5654_5655.pdf

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Povkh, Olesya 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Dnipro Ukrainian female sprinters Olympic female sprinters Olympic athletes of Ukraine Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists for Ukraine Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Ukraine European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for Ukraine Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Ukrainian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics