Nadiya Volodymyrivna Tkachenko ( uk, Надія Володимирівна Ткаченко) or Nadezhda Vladimirovna Tkachenko (russian: Надежда Владимировна Ткаченко) (born 19 September 1948) is a Ukrainian former

pentathlete A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

who won gold at the 1980 Olympics. She was born in

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...

, then in the

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

in the

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, ...

, and took up pentathlon aged 18 training at the Vanguard

Voluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union Voluntary Sports Societies (VSS) of the USSR (russian: Добровольные спортивные общества (ДСО) СССР, Dobrobolvolnye Sportivye Obshestva SSSR (DSO SSSR)) were the main structural parts of the universal sports and ...

in Donetsk Oblast. She came second in pentathlon in the Soviet championships of 1971 and 1972, and competed three times for the

Soviet Union at the Olympics The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and competed at the Summer and Winter Games on 18 occasions subsequently. At six of its nine appearances at the Summer Olympic Games, the Soviet team ...

. She set her first world record (4839 points) winning the 1977 European Cup. She won the 1974 European title, but was stripped of the 1978 title after testing positive for anabolic steroids and given an 18-month ban. In May 1980, just after the ban, she scored 4880 points, which was not ratified as a record because the races were hand timed. In July she won the 1980 Olympic title with 5083 points, becoming the only woman ever to break 5000 points outdoors, with the final world record before the event was replaced in 1981 by the heptathlon. The Soviet government awarded her the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

and the title

Honored Master of Sports of the USSR Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet Union, Soviet physical education system requirements for bo ...

. Since retiring from competition she has worked as a youth sports coach in Donetsk, of which she was named an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

in 2005. A youth athletics competition in the city is named after her.

Footnote

References

1948 births Living people People from Kremenchuk Soviet pentathletes Soviet female athletes Ukrainian female athletes Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Ukrainian sportspeople in doping cases Soviet sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Ukrainian pentathletes Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Poltava Oblast {{USSR-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub