Aksana Miankova

Aksana Miankova, also transliterated as Oksana Menkova, (Belarusian: Аксана Мянькова, born 28 March 1982) is a Belarusian hammer thrower. Her personal best of 78.69 m ranks her as the third best woman of all-time.

Aksana Miankova
Aksana Miankova 2010 on a Belarusian stamp
Personal information
NationalityBelarusian
Born28 March 1982 (1982-03-28) (age 38)
Krychaw, Belarus
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Country Belarus
SportAthletics
Event(s)Hammer throw
ClubRTsFVS Mahilyow
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)79.12 m (2012)

Career

Miankova began learning the hammer throw in her late teens. Women's hammer competitions were still a developing sport at that point and she soon won a number of regional competitions. She competed in the qualifying rounds of the 2002 European Athletics Championships and, after a silver medal at the 2003 European Athletics U23 Championships, she represented Belarus at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. Her health suffered in the winter months during this period, however, and her lack of training time hindered her performance in her early career.[1]

She finished fifth at the 2005 Summer Universiade and took part in the 2007 World Championships without reaching the final.

Miankova originally won the gold medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics with a throw of 76.34 metres, an Olympic record.[2] In 2016, she was stripped of her Olympic medal after a re-analysis of her drug sample tested positive.[3]

On 25 November 2016 the IOC disqualified her from both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games and struck her results from the record for failing a drugs test in a re-analysis of her doping samples from 2008 and 2012.[4]

She missed some of the 2010 season due to taking maternity leave from the sport.[5] She gave birth to a daughter, Arina Menkova, in September that year and she vowed to return to top form in 2011.[6]

Miankova had a personal best throw of 78.19 metres in April 2012 in Brest. This was the third longest throw by a woman. She equalled this feat at the Olympic Champions meeting in Minsk two months later,[7] then improved to 78.69 m in July, moving up to second of all time behind Betty Heidler.[8]

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing  Belarus
2001 European Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 5th 59.24 m
2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 27th (q) 60.13 m
2003 European U23 Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 2nd 67.58 m
World Championships Paris, France 22nd (q) 64.11 m
2005 Universiade Izmir, Turkey 5th 69.09 m
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 23rd (q) 62.85 m
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan — NM
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, PR China DSQ 76.34 m
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany DSQ 69.58 m
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom DSQ 74.40 m
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia DSQ 66.65 m

References
  1. Dubitski, Mikhail (28 July 2008). Focus on Athletes – Aksana Miankova. IAAF. Retrieved on 14 June 2012.
  2. Oksana Menkova Archived 3 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
  3. "Doping-Ilyin stripped of Beijing, London weightlifting golds". reuters.com. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  4. "IOC sanctions seven athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008 and London 2012" (PDF). IOC. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  5. Dubitski, Mikhail (5 June 2010). Karolchyk-Pravalinskaya puts 19.95m; Pchelnik 73.03m in Minsk. IAAF. Retrieved on 6 June 2010.
  6. Oksana Menkova gets ready to return to the ring Archived 28 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (25 October 2010). Retrieved on 28 October 2010.
  7. Dubitski, Mikhail (14 June 2012). Ostapchuk improves to 21.13m, Menkova hammers 78.19m in Minsk. IAAF. Retrieved on 14 June 2012.
  8. Dubitski, Mikhail (19 July 2012). National records and world leads for Miankova and Ostapchuk in Minsk. IAAF. Retrieved on 20 July 2012.
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