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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Andrei Sergeyevich Krauchanka |
| Nationality |  Belarus |
| Born | (1986-01-04)January 4, 1986 (age 39) |
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[2] |
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb)[2] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and Field |
Event(s) | Decathlon,Heptathlon |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest(s) | Decathlon: 8,617 (2007) Heptathlon: 6,303 (2014) |
Medal record | |
Andrei Sergeyevich Krauchanka (Belarusian:Андрэй Сяргеевіч Краўчанка; also transliterated asAndrey Kravchenko) (born 4 January 1986) is a Belarusiandecathlete. He was thesilver medallist at the2008 Beijing Olympics. His personal best score of 8617 points is theBelarusian record for the event. He also holds the national indoor record in theheptathlon with 6282 points.
Krauchanka was a talentedcombined events athlete from a young age: he broke theworld youth best for theoctathlon and was runner-up at the2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics. He became theEuropean andWorld Junior champion in the decathlon before emerging as a senior in 2007, when he won the bronze medal at the2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships and set his best of 8617 to win theHypo-Meeting.
Two silver medals on the global stage came in 2008, first at the2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships and then at the Olympics in Beijing. Injuries affected his performances from 2009 to 2012, although he won bronze at the2010 European Athletics Championships and gold at the2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships during that time.
Born in Myshanka in theGomel Region,[3] he grew up in the town ofPyetrykaw. Both his parents were involved in sports: his father Sergey was the military champion incombined track and field events when he was part of theSoviet Air Defence Forces, while his mother took part infigure skating,volleyball andathletics.[4] His parents broke up when he was aged nine and, enduring financial difficulty, his mother encouraged him to take up athletics as a distraction. He performed to a high standard and went to the Olympic sports boarding school inGomel as a teenager.[5]
In 2000, he won the Belarusian youth title in theoctathlon.[6] International competitions followed and he broke theworld youth record in the octathlon with a total of 6415 points in 2003.[4] This mark was beaten soon after byAndrés Silva, who won at the2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics, leaving Krauchanka with the silver medal.[6] He also placed fifth in thelong jump at that year'sEuropean Youth Olympic Festival.[7] That year a period of training inFinland under Pavel Hamalainen, father ofEduard Hämäläinen, did not last and he returned to his original coach Ivan Gordienko.[4]
Krauchanka moved intodecathlon competitions in 2004 and, after setting a best of 7963 points to win the national junior title,[8] he broke the championship record at the2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics, collecting 8126 points with a series of personal bests.[6] He broke the national junior record inheptathlon at 2005'sTallinn combined events meeting with 5929 points. He placed 13th at the high-profile2005 Hypo-Meeting before winning his second major junior title at the2005 European Athletics Junior Championships. In 2006, he again broke the 8000-point barrier, coming eleventh at the2006 Hypo-Meeting, and placed third at theEuropean Cup Combined Events.[6][8]
Krauchanka set a personal heptathlon best at the Tallinn meet (5955) then won his first ever senior medal in the event at the2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships, earning 6090 points and a bronze medal.[4] The outdoor season saw him make a significant breakthrough as he won the2007 Hypo-Meeting with a personal best of 8617 points. Among his competitors, he defeated the world record holderRoman Sebrle and reigning world championBryan Clay, both of whom praised the emerging Belarusian. He set personal bests in seven of the disciplines and was the outright winner in four of them.[9] He failed to finish at theTNT – Fortuna Meeting but solidified his progress with a win at the2007 European Athletics U23 Championships with 8492 points.[4][6] The pressure of expectation affected him at the2007 World Championships in Athletics as in the first100 metres event he obviouslyfalse started twice, eliminating himself from the competition.[10][11] He ended the year on a high note with a win at theDécastar meet.[4]
The 2008 season started well for him with aBelarusian record in the heptathlon in Tallinn, winning the competition with a score of points.[12] He bettered this with 6234 points at the2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships, taking the silver medal behind Bryan Clay. Heading into the outdoor season he was more conservative in entering competitions and won the European Cup decathlon with 8585 points before going on to claim thesilver medal in the event at the2008 Beijing Olympics (again behind Clay).[6] He retained his Décastar title in his last decathlon of the season and was the series winner of theIAAF Combined Events Challenge.[11]
In spite of his successful 2008 season, he was unable to progress further in 2009 as he caughtpneumonia and suffered throughout the season.[5] He won the European Cup Combined Events title and placed tenth at the2009 World Championships in Athletics, but his season's best of 8336 points was somewhat lower than the previous two years.[8]
In 2010, he won the national universities title with a score of 6206 points for the heptathlon and went on the place fourth at the2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Another major medal came at the2010 European Athletics Championships, where his score of 8370 was enough for the decathlonbronze medal.[4] At that competition, he looked set to be eliminated during thepole vault as his pole snapped mid-event. However, a Lithuanian rivalDarius Draudvila allowed Krauchanka to borrow his implement, allowing the Belarusian to continue. The Belarusian team nominated Draudvila for theWorld Fair Play Award for his sportsmanship.[13]
Krauchanka won another continental medal at the2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships, improving his own national record to 6282 points to win the competition.[4] However, he was carrying an ankle injury and was in pain during the events.[5] He failed to finish at that year's TNT – Fortuna Meeting and missed the2011 World Championships in Athletics. He was fifth at the Decastar in September.[8] He performed well at the 2012 Belarusian indoor championships, becoming champion with 6205 points, but managed only sixth at the2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships then failed to complete the decathlon at the Hypo-Meeting in May. This was his first and final outdoor appearance that year. His next competition came almost one year later, at theMultistars meeting, and he demonstrated a return to fitness with a winning score of 8390 points.[4]
Information fromWorld Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
| Event | Performance | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110 meters hurdles | 13.93 (-0.6 m/s) | Minsk | 17 May 2007 |
| Pole vault | 5.00 m (16 ft4+3⁄4 in) | Minsk | 17 May 2007 |
| Shot put | 15.40 m (50 ft6+1⁄4 in) | Minsk | 11 July 2014 |
| Discus throw | 47.87 m (157 ft1⁄2 in) | Minsk | 12 June 2012 |
| Javelin throw | 67.78 m (222 ft4+1⁄2 in) | Minsk | 18 July 2014 |
| Event | Performance | Location | Date | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decathlon | — | Götzis | 26–27 May 2007 | 8,617 points |
| 100 meters | 10.86 (+0.2 m/s) | Götzis | 26 May 2007 | 892 points |
| Long jump | 7.90 m (25 ft 11 in) (+0.9 m/s) | Götzis | 26 May 2007 | 1,035 points |
| Shot put | 15.19 m (49 ft 10 in) | Zurich | 12 August 2014 | 801 points |
| High jump | 2.22 m (7 ft3+1⁄4 in) | Zurich | 12 August 2014 | 1,012 points |
| 400 meters | 47.17 | Talence | 22 September 2007 | 950 points |
| 110 meters hurdles | 14.05 (-0.1 m/s) | Götzis | 27 May 2007 | 968 points |
| Discus throw | 47.46 m (155 ft8+1⁄2 in) | Kladno | 13 August 2014 | 812 points |
| Pole vault | 5.20 m (17 ft1⁄2 in) | Hengelo | 29 June 2008 | 972 points |
| Javelin throw | 68.11 m (223 ft5+1⁄4 in) | Zurich | 13 August 2014 | 861 points |
| 1500 meters | 4:24.44 | Götzis | 28 May 2006 | 782 points |
| Virtual Best Performance | 9,085 points | |||
| Event | Performance | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 meters hurdles | 7.8h | Mogilev | 14 January 2007 |
| 8.23 | Minsk | 17 January 2020 | |
| Long jump | 7.50 m (24 ft7+1⁄4 in) | Mogilev | 22 February 2014 |
| High jump | 2.10 m (6 ft10+1⁄2 in) | Mogilev | 17 February 2018 |
| Pole vault | 5.20 m (17 ft1⁄2 in) | Mogilev | 21 February 2014 |
| Shot put | 14.39 m (47 ft2+1⁄2 in) | Gomel | 8 February 2014 |
| Event | Performance | Location | Date | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heptathlon | — | Sopot | 7–8 March 2014 | 6,303 points |
| 60 meters | 7.03 | Tallinn | 15 February 2008 | 872 points |
| Long jump | 7.75 m (25 ft 5 in) | Gomel | 26 January 2012 | 997 points |
| Shot put | 15.42 m (50 ft 7 in) | Sopot | 7 March 2014 | 816 points |
| High jump | 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in) | Sopot | 7 March 2014 | 1,002 points |
| 60 meters hurdles | 7.90 | Mogilev | 21 February 2010 | 1,007 points |
| Pole vault | 5.30 m (17 ft4+1⁄2 in) | Valencia | 9 March 2008 | 1,004 points |
| 1000 meters | 2:39.80 | Paris | 6 March 2011 | 876 points |
| Virtual Best Performance | 6,574 points | |||
He is married to fellow Belarusian athleteYana Maksimava. Amid theforced repatriation and subsequent defection of Belarusian sprinterKrystsina Tsimanouskaya at theSummer Olympics inTokyo in 2021, Maksimava announced that she and her husband Krauchanka would also not be returning to Belarus and would instead seek asylum inGermany, where the couple trains.[14][15] Krauchanka had previously been detained in Belarus for taking part in protests againstAlexander Lukashenko.[15]
European Athletics Championships champions in men'sdecathlon | |
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World U20 Champions in men'sdecathlon | |
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