Iryna Yatchenko

Iryna Yatchenko

Iryna Yatchenko on a 2004 Belarusian stamp. She was later found to have been doping and lost the medal.
Personal information
Native name	Ірына Ятчанка
Birth name	Iryna Vasiliyevna Yatchenko
Nationality	Belarusian
Born	31 October 1965 (1965-10-31) (age 59) Homel, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Years active	1990–2010
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	105 kg (231 lb)
Sport
Country	Soviet Union (1990–1991)  Unified Team (1992) Belarus (1993–2009)
Sport	Discus throw
Club	Trud Grodno RTsFVS Homel
Turned pro	1990
Retired	2010
Achievements and titles
Personal best	69.14 m (2004)
Medal record Women's Athletics Representing Belarus Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Discus World Championships 2003 Paris Discus

Iryna Vasiliyevna Yatchenko (Belarusian: Ірына Ятчанка, Russian: Ирина Васильевна Ятченко; born 31 October 1965) is a Belarusian former discus thrower best known for winning two Olympic bronze medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics, although she was eventually stripped of the latter medal due to a doping offence. She also became world champion at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. Her personal best is 69.14 metres, achieved in July 2004 in Minsk.

Career

Yatchenko was born in Gomel. Her career at the highest level of competition lasted almost twenty years, starting with the 1990 European Athletics Championships. She threw the discus at five editions of the Olympic Games, competing at all Games from the 1992 Barcelona Games to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Yatchenko's World Championship career was similarly extensive, as she took part on eight separate occasions.

Yatchenko's final major competition was the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, but she failed to register a valid throw in the qualifying rounds. She retired from international competition in June 2010 and the Belarus National Olympic Committee held a ceremony to honour her career. At the age of 44, she was one of the last athletes to retire who had previously represented the Soviet Union in international athletics.

Yatchenko is married to Igor Astapkovich, also an Olympic medalist in hammer throw.

Doping case

When the IOC in 2012 re-analysed stored samples from the 2004 Summer Olympics, Yatchenko's sample was found positive for the anabolic steroid Methandienone. IOC subsequently disqualified her results from the Athens Olympics and she was made to return the bronze medal and diploma. The IAAF also banned her for two years from sports and disqualified all her results from 21 August 2004 – 20 August 2006.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing Soviet Union
1990	Goodwill Games	Seattle, United States	2nd	67.04 m
	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	5th	65.16 m
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	7th	64.92 m
Representing  Unified Team
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	7th	63.74 m
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Turin, Italy	3rd	Second on season's points
Representing Belarus
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	9th	60.48 m
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	12th	60.46 m
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	5th	62.58 m
1998	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	8th	61.20 m
1999	World Championships	Seville, Spain	9th	62.99 m
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	3rd	65.20 m
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	9th	59.45 m
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	1st	67.32 m
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	8th
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	DSQ (3rd)	66.17 m
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	DSQ (3rd)
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	10th	59.65 m
2007	World Championships	Paris, France	10th	62.63 m
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	11th	59.27 m
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	NM	No mark

References

• Iryna Yatchenko at World Athletics