Olha Zavhorodnya (born 6 January 1983) is a Ukrainian athlete who specializes in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

. She is the most famous athlete to come from the small industrial town of

Pryluky Pryluky ( ) is a city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality located on the Udai River in Chernihiv Oblast, north-central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Pryluky Raion (Raion, district). Located nearby is the Pryluky (a ...

. She finished eighth in the 400 metres at the

2005 Summer Universiade The 2005 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXIII Summer Universiade, took place in İzmir, Turkey, in August. Emblem The emblem is the letter "U", inspired by the bird's-eye view of the Gulf of İzmir. This shape has perfectly fit the letter ...

, and also won a bronze medal in the

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

. At the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, with pr ...

she won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay. She also competed at the 2007 World Championships, and was on the 2007 European Indoor Championships team that was disqualified. Her personal best times are 52.13 seconds in the 400 metres, achieved in July 2007 in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

; and 1:59.56 minutes in the 800 metres, achieved in August 2011 in

Shenzhen, China Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

. She retired in August 2016 with an achilles injury that dashed her hopes at making the 2016 Olympic Team. Upon retirement, she received a scholarship to study the Korean language with th
ISR Sports Academy
After the end of the program, she enrolled in Korean language classes at

Pukyong National University Pukyong National University (PKNU; ) is a national university in Busan, South Korea, formed in 1996. The university has two campuses, Daeyeon-dong and Yongdang-dong, situated near the coastal district of Nam-gu. PKNU has a traditional focus ...

and now lives in Busan. She works as a coach in both Ukraine and Korea.

References

1983 births Living people Ukrainian female sprinters Ukrainian female middle-distance runners Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Ukraine FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Ukraine Competitors at the 2005 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2007 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade 21st-century Ukrainian sportswomen {{Ukraine-athletics-bio-stub