Yuliya Nesterenko (alt. spelling: Yulia Nestsiarenka, , , , ; born 15 June 1979), née Bartsevich, is a Belarusian sprinter who was the Olympic 100 meters champion in 2004. Nesterenko won the women's

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in 10.93 seconds, becoming the first non-black athlete to win the event since the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. She ran all four times (two qualification rounds, semifinal and final) under 11 seconds. After the Olympic games in Athens she took an almost year-long break. At the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics (, ), under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

she reached the final in the 100 metres, though came only 8th (11.13 seconds). She won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in another event, the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

, together with her compatriots Natallia Solohub, Alena Neumiarzhitskaya and Aksana Drahun. At the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

she was 6th in the 100 m final and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing, Nesterenko competed in the 100 m again. In her first round heat she came 2nd behind Kim Gevaert in a time of 11.40 to advance to the second round. There she improved down to 11.14 seconds, but finished 4th, normally causing elimination, however hers was the fastest losing time and enough to qualify for the semifinals. She came close to reaching the final to defend her title with a time of 11.26, 5th place, while the first four athletes qualified for the final. Together with Aksana Drahun, Nastassia Shuliak and Anna Bagdanovich she took part in the 4 × 100 m relay. In their first round heat they placed 6th with a time of 43.69 seconds, which was the 9th overall out of 16 countries. With this result they failed to qualify for the final. Nesterenko is a member of the Belarus Olympic Committee.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nestsiarenka, Yulia 1979 births Living people Belarusian female sprinters Olympic female sprinters Olympic athletes for Belarus Olympic gold medalists for Belarus Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Brest, Belarus