Yuriy Volodymyrovych Cheban ( uk, Юрій Володимирович Чебан; born 5 July 1986 in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

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 ...

) is a retired Ukrainian sprint canoeist. He is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion in C-1 200 metres.

Career

In 2003, despite being a year younger than many of his rivals, he was a world junior silver medallist at Komatsu, Japan in the

Canadian canoe Canadian is the byname used in some countries for the descendants of the birch bark canoe that was used by the indigenous peoples of Northern America as a convenient means of transportation in the densely forested and impassable areas of Nor ...

C-1 1000 m and also finished fourth in the C-1 500 m event. Having won the 2004 European Junior Championships at both the C-1 500 m and C-1 1000 m in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, Cheban was selected to represent Ukraine in both C-1 events at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Competing against much more experienced canoeists, he placed sixth in his initial heat of the C-1 500 m with a time of 2:00.238, qualifying for the semifinals. In the semifinal, he again placed sixth with a time of 1:53.385, and did not advance to the finals. In C-1 1000 m, Cheban finished sixth in his heat with a time of 4:00.637. He was disqualified in the semifinal. In 2005, Cheban and partner Petro Kruh won the European under-23 C-2 1000 m title in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria. At the senior World Championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Croatia they were the youngest of the C-2 1000 m finalists, placing ninth. In 2006 Cheban returned to the individual C-1 event and it proved to be his most successful season yet. In July he took the C-1 500 m bronze medal at the 2006 European Championships in Račice, Czech Republic – his first senior medal. The following month he went one better, winning the silver medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

. Cheban would win gold in the C-1 200 m event at the 2007 championships in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

. He won a bronze medal in the C1 500m event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He is a member of the

Yuzhne Yuzhne ( uk, Ю́жне, ; formerly: Южний, ''Yuzhnyi'',Internet portal of Yuzhny
translated as "southern"

club. At the 2010 championships, Cheban won two medals with a silver in the C-1 4 × 200 m and a bronze in the C-1 200 m (tied with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's Richard Dalton). While at the

2012 Olympics 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, he won the C-1 200m event, beating his opponent Ivan Shtyl' from Russia. He succeeded in defending his title four years later at the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, defeating his former teammate,

Valentin Demyanenko Valentin Demyanenko (), born 23 October 1983 in Cherkasy, is a former Ukrainian-born Azerbaijani flatwater canoeist. He is a four times world champion, three times European champion and silver medalist of 2016 Summer Olympics in C-1 200 metres. ...

, who competed for

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheban, Yuriy 1986 births Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Living people Armed Forces sports society (Ukraine) athletes Olympic canoeists of Ukraine Olympic bronze medalists for Ukraine Sportspeople from Odesa Ukrainian male canoeists Olympic medalists in canoeing Olympic gold medalists for Ukraine ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2015 European Games European Games competitors for Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Recipients of the Order For Courage, 3rd class K. D. Ushinsky South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University alumni Ukrainian people of Moldovan descent