Inha Babakova (née Butkus, born 26 June 1967) is a former
high jumper
The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
who represented the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and later
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. She was born in
Asgabat,
Turkmen SSR
The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Soviet Central Asia, ...
. Her personal best is 2.05 metres.
Career
Babakova won an Olympic bronze medal in
Atlanta 1996 and became World Champion in
Seville 1999. She also won four other World Championship medals, with bronzes in 1991 and 1995 and silvers in 1997 and 2001.
Track and Field News
''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...
magazine ranked her in the world's top ten in their annual merit rankings for 13 out of 14 seasons (1991-2004), the exception being 1998. She was in the top five ten times. Only
Stefka Kostadinova, among other female high jumpers, has more top ten rankings. Her 2.01 m clearance in
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
on her 36th birthday in 2003 is the women's W35 World Record.
Achievements
Note: Results with a q, indicate overall position in qualifying round.
See also
*
Female two metres club
References
External links
*
*
*
Sporting Heroes
1967 births
Living people
Ukrainian female high jumpers
Soviet female high jumpers
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Ashgabat
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for Ukraine
Olympic bronze medalists for Ukraine
World Athletics Championships medalists
Ukrainian people of Lithuanian descent
Turkmenistan people of Lithuanian descent
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union
World Athletics Championships athletes for Ukraine
World Athletics Championships winners
Ukrainian Athletics Championships winners
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