Olena Hrachykivna Akopyan ( uk, Олена Грачиківна Акопян, born 4 October 1969) is a

Paralympic swimmer Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions throughout the world. The sport is governed by the International Para ...

from

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 ...

competing mainly in category S5 events. She is also one of the rare sportswomen to have competed in both the summer and winter Paralympics having competed in the biathlon and cross-country skiing in the winter Paralympics. The majority of Akopyan's Paralympic success came in the pool where she won thirteen of her fifteen medals including her only gold medal.

Career

At the

1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...

, Akopyan won three silvers in the , and freestyle. Each time she finishing behind France's Beatrice Hess, who set two world records and a Paralympic record in the three events. Akopyan placed sixth in the 100m breaststroke. At the

1998 Winter Paralympics The , the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remai ...

in Nagano, Akopyan won a bronze in the sitski biathlon and the sitski cross-country. She placed fifth in the and fourth in the cross-country events. At the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

, Akopyan again won silver medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle including, breaking the Paralympic record in the 50m freestyle first heat only to see Hess break it in the second heat and then set a world record in the final. Akopyan came in fourth in the 50m

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

and 50m

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...

. At the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympi ...

, Akopyan won a silver in the 50m butterfly behind

Teresa Perales Teresa Perales Fernández (born 29 December 1975) is an S5, SB4, SM5 classified Spanish swimmer, politician and motivational speaker who has won a total of 27 Paralympic medals at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics. ...

of Spain and another silver in the 200m freestyle behind Hess. She beat Hess to the gold medal in the 50m freestyle. Sheh also picked up a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle, behind both Perales and Hess, and was a member of the Ukrainian 4x50m medley squad that finished fourth. Akopyan was coached by Maryna Kuzmina (Honored coach of Ukraine) from 2001- 2005. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

, Akopyan broke the World record in the 50m butterfly only to see both China's Fuying Jiang and Russia's

Anastasia Diodorova Anastasia Diodorova, (Russian: Анастасия Алексеевна Диодорова), is a Paralympic swimmer from Russia competing mainly in category S6 events. Career Anastasia competed in both the 2004 and 2008 Sum ...

swim quicker in the final leaving her with the bronze medal. She took the bronze medal in the 50m and 200m freestyle and finished fourth in the 100m freestyle.

Personal life

Akopyan was disabled as a teenager as a result of a knife attack in

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of B ...

, where she had moved to attend a music school. She was married in August 2008. In 2010, she gave birth to a son and daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akopyan, Olena 1969 births Living people Paralympic biathletes for Ukraine Paralympic cross-country skiers for Ukraine Paralympic swimmers for Ukraine Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Ukraine Paralympic silver medalists for Ukraine Paralympic bronze medalists for Ukraine Ukrainian female cross-country skiers Ukrainian female butterfly swimmers Ukrainian female freestyle swimmers People from Yenakiieve Medalists at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Ukrainian people of Armenian descent Paralympic medalists in swimming Paralympic medalists in biathlon Paralympic medalists in cross-country skiing S5-classified para swimmers Sportspeople from Donetsk Oblast 20th-century Ukrainian women 21st-century Ukrainian women