Nadzeya Astapchuk
Nadzeya Astapchuk (Belarusian: Надзея Астапчук; Russian: Надежда Остапчук, Nadezhda Ostapchuk; born October 12, 1980) is a Belarusian shot putter.
Born in Stolin, she was initially interested in basketball but the lack of a local team left her unable to pursue the sport further. Astapchuk instead began practising in throwing events and her first international title came at the age of seventeen, as she won the shot put at the 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics. She was dominant at the younger levels and won at the 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships and then the 2001 European Athletics U23 Championships.[1]
She rose to top international level in the early 2000s, winning two consecutive silver medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and also finished as runner-up at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. She finished fourth at her first Summer Olympics in 2004, but reached the peak of her discipline the following year, winning at the 2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships and then becoming 2005 World Champion. Her career became overshadowed by Valerie Vili, who succeeded her as World Champion in 2007, although she continued to win major medals, including silvers at the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships and a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Her personal best is 21.70 m thrown at the Belarusian championships in 2010, making her the third best indoor thrower on the all-time lists.[2] She scored her first world indoor title at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, throwing a championship record of 20.85 m. She won further honours at the 2010 European Cup Winter Throwing meeting, easily winning gold ahead of compatriot Natallia Mikhnevich.[3] She defeated the reigning champion, Natallia Mikhnevich, at the 2010 European Athletics Championships to claim her first outdoor European Championship. She won all six of the IAAF Diamond League meetings that she competed in that year, becoming the inaugural women's shot put trophy winner, and suffered just one defeat in the entirety of 2010 – a runner-up placing behind Valerie Adams at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup.[4]
She decided to miss the indoor section of 2011 and instead struck a balance between training and resting her left knee. She had endured ongoing pain in the joint but remarked "I didn’t want to do something radical and have surgery as there is no guarantee of a speedy recovery".[4] Her first competition of 2012 came at the Belarusian indoor championships and she demonstrated her form with a world-leading mark of 20.70 m.[5]
Achievements
References
- ^ Cutting on disco is the secret to Ostapchuk's success. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-05-30.
- ^ Dubitski,Mikhail (2010-02-14). Ostapchuk blasts 21.70m Shot Put heave in Mogilev. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-02-14.
- ^ Slovenia's Ratej provides big surprise at European Cup Winter Throwing. European Athletics (2010-03-21). Retrieved on 2010-03-23.
- ^ a b European shot put champion Ostapchuk ready to return after resolving knee problems . European Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-05-30.
- ^ Dubitski, Mikhail (2012-02-12). Ostapchuk opens with 20.70m world leader at national champs in Mogilev. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-02-12.
External links
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World Indoor Champions in women's shot put | |
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European Athletics Championships champions in women's shot put | |
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- 1980 births
- Living people
- Belarusian shot putters
- Female shot putters
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Belarus
- Olympic bronze medalists for Belarus
- People from Stolin Raion
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Belarusian sportswomen