Olga Butkevych (born 3 January 1986) 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 ...

-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

. She is a European Wrestling Championship and World Wrestling Championship bronze medallist. She was

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

's sole wrestler at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Butkevych was born on 3 January 1986 in

Zaporizhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia has a populatio ...

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

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Career

Butkevych was brought to Britain in 2007 by Nikolei Kornieiev, the Ukrainian-born coach of the British team, to help with training and to act as a sparring partner for British wrestlers. She began competing for Great Britain at wrestling competitions, including the World Championships, where national citizenship is not required. She took third place in the women's competition at the European Wrestling Championships in April 2011, her first international medal for Great Britain. She placed second in the 2012 Summer Olympics wrestling test event in December 2011. For Butkevych to compete at the 2012 Games, she needed to gain

British citizenship British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

. The sport's governing body petitioned the Home Office in order to ensure that this was received in time for her registration for the Games. She became eligible for British citizenship in February 2012 after living in the UK for five years, and was granted British citizenship and a passport in May 2012. She had originally been turned down for the citizenship in March 2012, but was awarded it on appeal. This was controversial and led to some newspapers labelling her as a " Plastic Brit". Fellow Ukrainian and British wrestling team member Yana Stadnik had her citizenship application turned down at the same time that Butkevych's was awarded. She was

's sole wrestler at the 2012 Summer Games, where she competed in the women's category. Great Britain were originally due to have three wrestling places, but the Olympic Qualification Standards ruled that it should be reduced to a single spot; with Butkevych taking that spot. In the Olympic finals she lost to Lissette Antes of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

and was placed 11th in the final standings. In September 2012, she became the first British wrestler to medal at the World Championships, when she won a bronze, in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Canada.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butkevych, Olga British female sport wrestlers Ukrainian female sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Great Britain Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Ukrainian emigrants to the United Kingdom Sportspeople from Zaporizhzhia 1986 births Living people World Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Championships medalists