Dmitry Kroyter

Born in Siberia, Kroyter and his family emigrated to Israel in 1999.[4][5] He grew up in south Tel Aviv, raised by his single mother, Tatiana, who works as a housekeeper.[6][5][7] His parents are divorced, and he has no contact with his father Piotr, who lives in Moldova.[6][7] His brother Evgeni died from a serious liver illness in 2012.[6][5][7] Kroyter served in the Israel Defense Forces, completing his service in 2015.[8]

Kroyter has been coached in the high jump since 2005 by Anatoly "Tolek" Shafran, at Maccabi Tel Aviv.[9]

In 2009, he became Israel's first Youth (17 or younger) World Champion at the age of 16 by winning the gold medal with a high jump of 2.20 m at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics (the sixth IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics) in Brixen, Italy.[10][8][11][12] That year Kroyter also won the Israeli senior championship in the high jump, with a jump of 2.19 m.[7] In June 2009 he set a world record for boys under 17 years of age, at 2.21 m.[13] He was hampered, however, by a thigh injury that prevented him from training.[13]

In 2010, despite a nagging injury Kroyter won the gold medal in the high jump at the Youth (18 or younger) Olympics in Singapore.[14][15][16] His jump of 2.24 at the age of 16 at a competition in Moscow in February 2010 remains as of August 2016 the best high jump ever by a European youth under 17 years of age.[6] He was dubbed a "rising young star" at the age of 17 by Allon Sinai of the Jerusalem Post.[17]

In 2011, he cleared 2.28 m while he was 17 years of age (a personal best at the time).[8] Later in the year, at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea, Kroyter cleared 2.16 m in the Men's High Jump qualifiers.[8] He was the youngest competitor in the event, at 18 years of age.[8]

In 2012, Kroyter came 4th in the Men's high jump at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona, Spain.[11] He also won a gold medal at the 76th Israeli Athletics Championships.[18]

In 2014, he was about to retire because of pain from a relentless injury, but came back from it.[3]

Kroyter won a silver medal in Men's High Jump with a jump of 2.24 m at the European Athletics Under-23 Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, in July 2015.[3][8]

His career-best high jump as of July 2016 was 2.29 m, in Schifflange, Luxembourg, in August 2015.[3][11] That met the International Association of Athletics Federations Olympic qualifying standard.[19]

Kroyter represented Israel at the 2016 Olympics, at the age of 23.[3][20] He exited in the qualification round after having jumped 2.17 m.[21]

• Israel at the Youth Olympics

• Dmitry Kroyter at World Athletics