Tatyana Grebenchuk (Belarusian: Тацяна Грабянчук; born 22 November 1962) is a Belarusian former Soviet track and field athlete who specialised in the 800 metres. She was a medalist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and European Athletics Indoor Championships in 1989. Her 800 m personal best was 1:57.35 minutes.

Tatyana Grebenchuk
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  Soviet Union
World Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place 1989 Budapest 800 m
European Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1989 The Hague 800 m

Grebenchuk's career briefly flourished in 1989 and 1990. She emerged as a fast runner in her mid-twenties after running a best of 1:57.89 minutes in 1987 (ranked twelfth globally) and then 1.58.70 minutes in 1988 (ranked 25th).[1] Her first and only national title came at the 1989 Soviet Indoor Athletics Championships, where she topped the podium in 2:02.62 minutes.[2] International success followed: the 1989 European Athletics Indoor Championships saw her place third in the 800 m behind Romania's Doina Melinte and East Germany's Ellen Kiessling.[3] Shortly after she entered the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships and retained her good form by running a lifetime indoor best of 1:59.53 minutes. This was enough to hold off Kiessling for the silver medal, as she finished second behind East German Christine Wachtel. The time ranked her as the second fastest athlete indoors that year.[4][5]

There were no major outdoor championships in 1989, but she expanded her international success to the outdoor track the year after. She ran a lifetime best of 1:57.35 minutes in Kiev that July.[6] She gained selection for the 1990 Goodwill Games – billed as a major event between American and Soviet athletes. There she earned a bronze medal in the 800 m (behind Cuba's Ana Fidelia Quirot and future world champion Liliya Nurutdinova) as well as a 4×400 metres relay bronze with the Soviet "B" team of Nadezhda Loboyko, Nadezhda Olizarenko and Nurutdinova.[7] Her final international outing was at the 1990 European Athletics Championships, but her semi-final run was slower than her heats one and she was eliminated, ranking tenth in the semi-final round.[8]

Personal bests edit

  • 800 metres – 1:57.35 min (1990)
  • 800 meters (indoor) – 1:59.53 min (1989)

National titles edit

International competitions edit

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1989 European Indoor Championships The Hague, Netherlands 3rd 800 m 2:01.63
World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 800 m 1:59.53
1990 Goodwill Games Seattle, United States 3rd 800 m 1:58.21
3rd 4×400 m relay 3:30.60
European Championships Split, Yugoslavia 10th (semis) 800 m 2:01.43

References edit

  1. ^ Tatyana Grebenchuk. Track and Field Brinkster . Retrieved on 2015-10-31.
  2. ^ Soviet Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.
  3. ^ European Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.
  4. ^ World Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.
  5. ^ World Top Performers Indoor: 1980 to 2006. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.
  6. ^ Tatyana Grebenchuk. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.
  7. ^ Athletics results. 1990 Goodwill Games (archived). Retrieved on 2015-10-31.
  8. ^ European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014 - STATISTICS HANDBOOK. European Athletics, pp. 451-460. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.

External links edit