 | ||
Olympic medals Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres Similar Tatyana Kazankina, Olga Mineyeva, Jarmila Kratochvílová | ||
Nadezhda olizarenko tribute
Nadezhda Fyodorovna Olizarenko (Ukrainian: Надія Федорівна Олізаренко; née Mushta; 28 November 1953 in Bryansk, Bryansk Oblast, Russian SFSR – 18 February 2017 in Odesa, Ukraine) was an international track athlete. She represented the Soviet Union and competed mainly in the 800 metres race, in which she won the Olympic gold medal in 1980.
Contents
Biography
Olizarenko competed for Soviet Union in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Russia, in the 800 metres, where she won the gold medal ahead of country women Olga Mineyeva and Tatyana Providokhina for a Soviet clean sweep of the medals. This added to the bronze medal she won in the 1500 metres at the same games.
In 1980 Olizarenko set a world record and also her personal best over 800 metres with 1:53.43; this record stood until 1983, when it was bettered by Jarmila Kratochvílová. As of 2017, it is still the number two all-time mark in women's 800 metres. Since 1997, only Olympic Champion Pamela Jelimo has come within a second of the mark. She won the gold medal in the 800 metres at the 1986 European Championships in Athletics.
She co-holds the current world record in the rarely contested 4 × 800 metres relay (7:50.17 minutes with Irina Podyalovskaya, Lyubov Gurina and Lyudmila Borisova).
She was married to the Ukrainian steeplechase runner Serhiy Olizarenko.
