Nataliya Pyhyda ( uk, Наталія Пигида; born 30 January 1981) is a Ukrainian

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 eve ...

sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. Her personal best times are 22.82 seconds (2008) and 50.62 seconds (2015), respectively.

Career

As a junior, she finished sixth at the 2000 World Junior Championships. Her personal best at the time was 52.87 seconds, achieved in August 2000 in

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

. She improved it to 52.76 seconds in July 2003 in Kyiv. At the 2003 World Championships she competed in the 4 x 400 metres relay without reaching the final. She finished fifth in the 200 metres event at the 2004 World Indoor Championships. At the 2004 Olympic Games she again competed in the 4 x 400 metres relay without reaching the final. In 2004, she greatly improved her personal bests in both her events, running the 200 metres in 23.04 seconds in July in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and the 400 metres in 51.44 seconds in July in Yalta. The seasons 2005 and 2006 went by without personal bests in her main events, only the 60 metres (7.25 seconds, Kyiv, February 2005) and the 100 metres (11.50 seconds, Kyiv, July 2005). At the 2005 European Indoor Championships the Ukrainian relay team finished fourth. She also finished fifth in the individual event. The relay team finished fifth at the 2005 World Championships. At the 2005 Summer Universiade she finished fourth in the 200 metres and won a bronze medal in the relay. At the 2006 European Championships she reached the semi-final of the individual event, and finished sixth in the relay. At the end of the season she was chosen for Europe's relay team at the

2006 IAAF World Cup The 10th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event, held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which took place on 16 and 17 September 2006 at the Olympic Stadium in Ath ...

. The team finished fourth. In 2007, she failed to run a single sub-24 or sub-52 second race. She failed to reach the relay final at the 2007 World Championships, but won a relay gold medal at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, with pre ...

. She reached the 400 metres semi-final at the 2008 World Indoor Championships, and at the 2008 Olympics she reached the semi-final of the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

, was disqualified in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest ...

, and failed to reach the final in the 4 x 400 metres relay. In the summer of 2008 she had smashed her 200 best time, running in 22.82 seconds in Kyiv in June. In 2009, she won the silver medal at the

2009 European Indoor Championships The 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held in Turin, Italy, from Friday, 6 March to Sunday, 8 March 2009. The championships took place at the Oval Lingotto indoor arena

. With 51.44 seconds she equalled her personal best time from the outdoor track. She further improved to 51.38 seconds in June 2009 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 h ...

. In July 2009, however, she tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol after a competition in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

. She was suspended from the sport from August 2009 to August 2011. She competed again at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was part of the Ukrainian team that won the silver medal at the 2014 European Athletics Championship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyhyda, Nataliia 1981 births Living people People from Nova Kakhovka Ukrainian female sprinters Olympic athletes for Ukraine Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Ukraine Doping cases in athletics Ukrainian sportspeople in doping cases Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Ukraine Universiade bronze medalists for Ukraine Olympic bronze medalists for Ukraine Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2007 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters Sportspeople from Kherson Oblast Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)