Yuriy Makarovich Sergiyenko ( uk, Юрій Макарович Сергієнко; born 19 March 1965) 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

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. He competed internationally for the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and finally Ukraine. His personal best of was set indoors in 1985 and he equalled that mark in 1993. Sergiyenko was the European Junior champion in 1983 and won the bronze medal at the

1991 Summer Universiade __NOTOC__ The 1991 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XVI Summer Universiade and generally referred to as the World Student Games, were held in Sheffield, England from 14 to 25 July 1991. The Games were the largest sporting event to be ho ...

. After representing the Unified Team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, he won the gold medal at the

1992 IAAF World Cup The 6th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 25–27, 1992, at the Estadio Panamericano in Havana, Cuba. Overall res ...

. His final international appearance came at the

1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 4th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from March 12 to March 14, 1993. It was the last Indoor Championships to feature the 5,000 and 3,000 metres race walk events. In addition, it ...

. He was a two-time Ukrainian national champion – being the first man to take the high jump title after the country's independence.

Career

Born in Starobilsk Raion in the

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

,Yuriy Sergiyenko
Brinkster Track and Field. Retrieved on 2014-11-13.
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-11-13. he was the gold medallist for the Soviet Union at the

1983 European Athletics Junior Championships The 1983 European Athletics Junior Championships was the seventh edition of the biennial athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was held in Schwechat Schwechat () is a town southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna Inter ...

, winning in a personal best of . He later set an outdoor best of , jumping in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

in September that year. The best jump of his career came in 1985 at the age of twenty. In

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

in February he cleared and later set an outdoor best of in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

in Bulgaria. He did not compete internationally in the second half of the 1980s but reappeared on the European scene in the 1990 season with a best of and followed with a jump of in 1991.Yuriy Sergiyenko
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-11-13. He won his first and final international medal for the Soviet Union at the 1991 Universiade. Sergiyenko began competing for

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 ...

in the 1992 season, following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. This change marked a resurgence in the athlete's form. He was victorious at the

Brothers Znamensky Memorial The Brothers Znamensky Memorial (russian: Мемориал братьев Знаменских) is an annual track and field competition which is held at the Meteor Stadium in Zhukovsky, Russia. The event is held in memory of Seraphim and Georgy ...

in an outdoor best-equalling mark of 2.31 m. He became Ukraine's first national champion in the high jump with a clearance of .Ukrainian Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-11-13. He was selected for the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics, managed only a jump of in the qualifiers on his Olympic debut. His first medal senior gold medal followed at the

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, where he beat home favourite

Javier Sotomayor Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban retired track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; hi ...

to the title. He equalled his personal best of 2.34 m at the start of 1993 and won selection for Ukraine for the

and cleared 2.31 m in the final to take sixth place. The best outdoor performance of his career came in June 1993 in the form of a clearance of in Nikopol, Ukraine. This proved to be the last time in his career that the Ukrainian cleared the two metres and thirty centimetres mark. He won his second Ukrainian title in 1994 and was the 1996 Europa SC High Jump winner.Winners
. Hrdosport. Retrieved on 2012-02-20. Reaching his mid-thirties, the 1998 season was the last in which he jumped over 2.20 m and he retired from

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), competiti ...

in 1999.

Personal bests

*High jump outdoor – (1993) *High jump indoor – (1985 and 1993)

National titles

Ukrainian Athletics Championships The Ukrainian Athletics Championships ( uk, Чемпіонат України з легкої атлетики) is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Ukrainian Athletic Federation, which serves as the national champions ...

High jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

: 1992, 1994

International competitions

References

External links