 Blonska at the2008 Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Native name | Людмила Леонідівна Блонська | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Lyudmyla Leonidivna Blonska | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1977-11-09)9 November 1977 (age 47) Simferopol,Crimean Oblast,Ukrainian SSR,Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Lyudmyla Leonidivna Blonska, néeShevchuk[1] (Ukrainian:Людмила Леонідівна Блонська (Шевчук)), sometimes known asLyudmila Blonskaya, (born November 9, 1977) is aUkrainian formerheptathlete,pentathlete, andlong jumper. She was given a lifetime ban from competition after failing a drug test at the2008 Summer Olympics, her second doping offense.[2]
Blonska was born as Lyudmyla Leonidivna Shevchuk on 9 November 1977 inSimferopol,Crimea,Ukrainian SSR. In 2000, she graduated from theKharkiv Institute as a trainer and teacher of physical culture. She then moved toBrovary with fellow athlete Serhiy Blonskyy, whom she married.[1] They have two children: Iryna (born 15 May 2001) and Oleksandr (born 23 June 2004).[1]
Blonska practicedrhythmic gymnastics from age five to ten. She then switched tobasketball and laterjudo andcycle racing. At age 14 she was introduced toathletics by a local coach.
In 1993, Blonska participated in the Ukrainian Youth Championships inOdesa, entering the heptathlon competition for the first time. She recalled crying out of fear before the 800m event, but then falling in love with heptathlon after scoring good results.
In 1995, after finishing school, Blonska moved to the capital,Kyiv, to begin training as member of the Ukrainian youth team. Five months later she received an invitation to study at the Institute of Sports and Physical Culture inKharkiv. She found herself without a trainer and had to coach herself for a year and a half, while working at night to make ends meet.
In 1998, Blonska achieved third place in the national championships with 5554 points and, in 1999, improved her personal best (PB) to 5765.
In May 2002, a year after becoming a mother, Blonska won the national championship with a PB of 6039 and qualified for theEuropean Championships inMunich. There she finished thirteenth and soon thereafter tested positive forsteroids. She served a two-year ban before returning to the sport.
Blonska won the gold medal at the2005 Summer Universiade and finished fifth at the2006 European Championships. She won the gold medal at the2006 World Indoor Championships in thepentathlon.
Blonska's personal best heptathlon score is 6832 points, a Ukrainian record, achieved in August 2007 inOsaka where she won the silver medal. Just prior to the 2008 Olympics, she finished eighth in pentathlon at theWorld Indoor Championships.
At the 2008 Olympics, Blonska won silver in thewomen's heptathlon, but she was quickly disqualified andlost her medal after she tested positive for the anabolic steroidmethyltestosterone.[3] She had qualified for the long jump final, but theInternational Olympic Committee decided to expel her from the Games completely.[4][5] As this was her second doping offence, she was given a lifetime ban from competitive athletics.[2][3] Her husband/coach was also banned for life.[6]
