Marharyta Serhiïvna Dorozhon (, ; born 4 September 1987) is an Israeli

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er. Born and raised in Ukraine, she competed for that country until she became an Israeli citizen in 2014. Competing for Ukraine, Dorozhon came in third at the 11th IAAF World Junior Championships, and finished 14th in the women's javelin throw event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She won the 2013 István Gyulai Memorial with a throw of 61.31 m, the 2013 Ukrainian Championships with a throw of 62.01 m, and the 2014

IAAF World Challenge The IAAF World Challenge was an annual, global circuit of one-day track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation ...

Seiko Golden Grand Prix The Seiko Golden Grand Prix, formerly known as the Golden Grand Prix Kawasaki, is a track and field competition at the International Stadium Yokohama, Japan as part of the World Athletics Continental Tour. It was first organized in 2011 at the T ...

with a throw of 59.15 m in Tokyo, Japan. Dorozhon represented Israel in April 2015, four months after she became a citizen. In May 2015 she won the IAAF World Challenge

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike () is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interrupted in 1999, whe ...

javelin throw in the Czech Republic, with a personal best and Israeli national record winning throw of 63.85. The following month, she won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

and again set an Israeli national record at the

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bislett ...

in Norway, with a throw of 64.56 m. She won a gold medal representing

Israel at the 2015 European Games Israel competed at the 2015 European Games, in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 28 June 2015. The 2015 European Games represents Israel's largest ever delegation to a sports competition. Prior to the start of the event Israel planned to send 141 athle ...

that same month, with her throw of 58.00 m establishing a new European Games record.

Personal life

Dorozhon was born on 4 September 1987 in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in simultaneously southern, eastern and central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. It was created on February 27, 1932. Dnipropetro ...

, in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

of the Soviet Union. She became an

Israeli citizen Israel has two primary pieces of legislation governing the requirements for citizenship, the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew has the unrestricted right to immigrate to Israel and become an Israeli citizen. Individuals ...

in December 2014.

Competitive history

Dorozhon is coached by Alexander Drigol, and her agent is Jose Praia. She competes for the Israeli club Hapoel

Emek Hefer The Hefer Valley Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Hefer'') is a regional council in the Sharon region of the Central District of Israel. It is named after an administrative district in this area in the time of King Solomon (). The co ...

Competitor for Ukraine

At the 11th IAAF World Junior Championships, on 19 August 2006 in the

Chaoyang Sports Centre Chaoyang Sports Centre (Simplified Chinese: 朝阳体育中心) is a multi-use stadium in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. It is currently used mostly for athletics matches. The stadium is able to hold 8,000 people and was opened in 2003. It ho ...

in Beijing, China, Dorozhon came in third with a throw of 57.68 m. At the time, it was a personal best. Dorozhon competed for Ukraine in the women's javelin throw event at the

. She came in 14th with a throw of 56.74 m in the qualifying round. She won the

István Gyulai István Gyulai (21 March 1943 in Budapest – 11 March 2006 in Monte Carlo) was a former Hungary, Hungarian television commentator and General Secretary of the IAAF and the AIPS. A Sprint (running), sprinter during his active athletics (sport), at ...

Memorial meet in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, with a throw of 61.31 m in early July 2013. In late July, Dorozhon won the Ukrainian Championships with a throw of 62.01 m. She won the 2014

in Tokyo, Japan, with a throw of 59.15 m.

Competitor for Israel

Dorozhon married Alex Bugoslavsky, an Israeli, and became an

in December 2014. She concurrently switched her sporting allegiance to Israel. Soon thereafter she joined the Israeli club Hapoel

. In April 2015, in her first competition representing Israel, Dorozhon set a new Israeli national record with a throw of 63.34 m at the Hadassah Youth Cup in

Hadassah Neurim Hadassah Neurim () is a youth village in central Israel. Located on the coast to the north of Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council The Hefer Valley Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Hefer'') is a r ...

, Israel. On 26 May 2015, Dorozhon won the IAAF World Challenge

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, with a winning throw of 63.85 m in the second round. In winning the event, she upset favorites 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic and 2011 world champion

Mariya Abakumova Mariya Vasiliyevna Abakumova (; born 15 January 1986) is a Russian former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. Career Abakumova discovered her love for athletics and throwing through her coach Irina Vladimirovna Kamarova. ...

of Russia. It was her second Israeli national record of 2015. The throw was her personal best. She said: "The fact that my name appeared next to an Israeli flag in my first international competition in which I ... represented my new country gave me a great honor, and I hope people start to appreciate Israel in international women's javelin." Marharyta Dorozhon 02

She won a gold medal and again set a national record for the third time in 2015 when she represented Israel at the

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 ...

, Norway on 11 June 2015, winning the women's javelin with a new personal record throw of 64.56 m, as former two-time Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova took the bronze medal and the current world champion,

Christina Obergföll Christina Obergföll (; born 22 August 1981) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. She was 2013 World Championships in Athletics – Women's javelin throw, World Champion in 2013 World Championships in A ...

, came in seventh. The throw was the eighth-best in the world to that point in 2015, and equaled the distance of the fourth-place throw at the

. She won a gold medal representing

on 21 June 2015, with her throw of 58.00 m establishing a new European Games record. In September 2015 she won an IAAF World Challenge in Berlin, Germany."Redemption for Sharp, Amos and Harper Nelson in Berlin,"
iaaf.org. She defeated world champion

Katharina Molitor Katharina Molitor (born 8 November 1983) is a German sportswoman who competes as a javelin thrower and volleyball player. As a javelin thrower, she is a World Champion, having won gold in 2015, and her personal best throw is 67.69 m. As a volle ...

in her home country with a throw of 63.24m. She did not qualify for the

2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio, because though she met the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Qualifying Standard for the Olympics she did not meet the higher 60-meter standard required by the

Olympic Committee of Israel The Olympic Committee of Israel (, ) is the recognized National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Israel, and the governing body of Olympic sports in Israel. The OCI's headquarters is located at the National Sport Center – Tel Aviv. History In ...

in 2016, as she was struggling with a groin injury. In June 2017 she won a bronze medal at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

, the Netherlands, with a throw of 60.63m. At the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games (), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games (), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world ...

, Dorozhon won the women's competition with a throw of 63.07m, qualifying her for the

2017 World Championships in Athletics The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

.">"Dorozhon wins javelin gold, secures spot in World Championships,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.

References

External links