Olesya Povh ( uk, Олеся Іванівна Повх (''Olesya Ivanivna Povkh''); born 18 October 1987) is a Ukrainian 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 Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Riv ...

, Ukraine. She graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in 2010 and chose to focus on athletics 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 at ...

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. 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, Ca ...

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 indivi ...

team: running with Nataliya Pohrebnyak, Mariya Ryemyen, 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, 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 The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events ...

. At the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London she and her teammates Khrystyna Stuy, 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 ...

, 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