Andrei Mikhnevich

Andrei Mikhnevich

Mikhnevich at the 2011 World championships Athletics in Daegu.
Personal information
Born	(1976-07-12) July 12, 1976
Height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	145 kg (320 lb)
Sport
Country	Belarus
Sport	Athletics
Event	Shot put
Medal record Olympic Games Disqualified 2008 Beijing Shot put World Championships 2003 Paris Shot put Disqualified 2007 Osaka Shot put Disqualified 2011 Daegu Shot put World Indoor Championships Disqualified 2006 Moscow Shot put Disqualified 2010 Doha Shot put European Championships Disqualified 2010 Barcelona Shot put Disqualified 2006 Gothenburg Shot put Continental Cup Disqualified 2010 Split Shot put
Updated on 10 July 2015

Andrei Anatolyevich Mikhnevich (Belarusian: Андрэй Анатолевіч Міхневіч, Andrej Michnievič, Russian: Андрей Анатольевич Михневич; born 12 July 1976 in Babruysk) is a Belarusian shot putter with a personal best of 21.69 metres, set in 2003. In 2013 he was banned from sports for life due to his second doping positive.

He started competing at global championships in 1999 and attended the 2000 Summer Olympics, but he was banned for a doping offence in 2001. He returned after a two-year suspension and promptly became the shot put world champion at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. He took part in the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2005 World Championships but failed to reach the global podium over this period.

He had a resurgence of form in 2006, taking silver at the IAAF World Indoor Championships as well as silver at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. He won the bronze at the 2007 World Championships and took his first Olympic honour, another bronze medal, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won indoor world silver for a second time at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the gold medal at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona.

In 2012 IAAF retested doping samples from the 2005 World Athletics Championships and Mikhnevich was found positive for 3 anabolic steroids: Clenbuterol, Methandienone and Oxandrolone. He was subsequently banned from sports for life, and the results from 6 August 2005 onwards were annulled. He lost the silver medals from the World Indoor Championships in 2006 and 2010, and the bronze medals from the 2007 and 2011 IAAF World Championships. In August 2014 IOC also disqualified his results from the 2008 Summer Olympics and re-allocated the bronze medal.

Career

He made his first major championships appearance at the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships and he finished eighth overall. He also attended the 1999 World Championships in Athletics that year but did not reach the final. His first Olympics soon followed at the 2000 Sydney Games where he finished ninth in the shot put final.

He received a two-year suspension for a doping offence on 7 August 2001. He had tested positive for Human chorionic gonadotropin at the 2001 World Athletics Championships in Edmonton and his results from the championships were annulled. Only 17 days after his suspension ended he became world champion in Paris with a personal best throw of 21.69 metres. He also won the Universiade the same year. His best performance in the following two years was a fifth place at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In 2006 he finished second both at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow, with a new personal indoor best throw of 21.37 metres, and the 2006 European Championships with 21.11. He followed this with a bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships.

He finished fifth at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships but rebounded to peak with a 22.00 m personal best in July and taking his first Olympic medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the form of a bronze. This medal would later be retracted and awarded to Canadian rival Dylan Armstrong, for doping offences. He sank back down the rankings at the 2009 World Championships, finishing seventh, but he gained his second indoor silver at the 2010 World Indoors a few months later. He set a national indoor record of 21.81 m in Mogilev, Belarus, and continued his good form with a win at the 2010 European Cup Winter Throwing meeting. He followed that victory by winning the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona. All his results from August 2005 and onwards were later disqualified after re-tests showed he had doped at the 2005 World Athletics Championships, and in 2013 the IAAF banned him for life.

His wife is fellow shot-putter Natallia Mikhnevich, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games. She was handed a two-year ban from sports after she tested positive for Stanozolol in 2013.

Personal bests

Event	Best (m)	Venue	Date
Shot put (outdoor)	21.69	Paris Saint-Denis (Stade de France)	23 August 2003
Shot put (indoor)	20.85	Minsk, Belarus	30 January 2004

• All information taken from IAAF profile.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing Belarus
1997	European U23 Championships	Turku, Finland	6th	18.72 m
1999	World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	8th	19.44 m
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	9th	19.48 m
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	DSQ (10th)	DSQ (20.42 m)
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	1st	21.69 m = PB
	Universiade	Daegu, South Korea	1st	20.76 m
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	3rd	20.51 m
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	6th	20.50 m
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	5th	20.60 m
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	7th	19.47 m
2005	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	DSQ (6th)
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	DSQ (7th)
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	DSQ (2nd)	DSQ (21.37 m = PB)
	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	DSQ (2nd)	DSQ (21.11 m)
2007	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, England	DSQ (25th)
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	DSQ (3rd)
	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	DSQ (3rd)
2008	World Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	DSQ (4th)
	Olympic Games	Beijing, PR China	DSQ (3rd)
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	DSQ (2nd)
	European Cup Winter Throwing	Arles, France	DSQ (1st)	DSQ (21.04 m)
2010	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	DSQ (1st)	DSQ (21.01 m)
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	DSQ (3rd)	DSQ (21.40 m)

External links

• Andrei Mikhnevich at World Athletics