Nadiya Volodymyrivna Tkachenko () or Nadezhda Vladimirovna Tkachenko () (born 19 September 1948) is a Ukrainian former pentathlete who won gold at the 1980 Olympics. She was born in

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

, then 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. ...

in 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 took up pentathlon aged 18 training at the Vanguard Voluntary Sports Societies of the Soviet Union in

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

. She came second in pentathlon in the Soviet championships of 1971 and 1972, and competed three times for the Soviet Union at the Olympics. She set her first world record (4839 points) winning the 1977 European Cup. She won the 1974 European title, but was stripped of the 1978 title after testing positive for anabolic steroids and given an 18-month ban. In May 1980, just after the ban, she scored 4880 points, which was not ratified as a record because the races were hand timed. In July she won the 1980 Olympic title with 5083 points, becoming the only woman ever to break 5000 points outdoors, with the final world record before the event was replaced in 1981 by the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. The Soviet government awarded her the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the title Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Since retiring from competition she has worked as a youth sports coach in Donetsk, of which she was named an honorary citizen in 2005. A youth athletics competition in the city is named after her.

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References

1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Kremenchuk Soviet pentathletes Soviet female athletes Ukrainian female athletes Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Ukrainian sportspeople in doping cases Soviet sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Ukrainian pentathletes Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Soviet Athletics Championships winners {{USSR-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub