Elena Kulichenko is a Russian-born Cypriot track and field athlete, who is a national record holder in the high jump. She is European U23 champion, World University Games silver medalist, as well as NCAA champion.
Elena Kulichenko was born on July 28, 2002, in Odintsovo, Russia. She started in athletics in her hometown but later attended the University of Georgia to study International Development and to start competing for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Elena Kulichenko started her competitive career in 2017, winning the gold at the Chelyabinsk Russian U18 Championships and the silver at the 14th European Youth Olympic Festival in Gyor. During the season she set her personal best of 187cm.
In 2019, Elena Kulichenko earned the high jump silver at the Smolensk Russian U20 Indoor Championships, as well as the gold at the International U20 Indoor Match in Minsk, Belarus. During the season, she finished 5th at the Filothei Women Gala 2019 in Athens, Greece, as well as 6th at the Gliwice Grand Prix. She started competing for Cyprus.
Elena Kulichenko won the gold at the Smolensk Regional Indoor U20 Championships, but finished 5th at the Volgograd Russian U20 Indoor Championships.
In 2021, she won the silver at the Limassol Cyprus Championships.
In 2022, Elena Kulichenko attended the University of Georgia and competed for their college team, finishing 11th at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Eugene and 6th at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Birmingham. Meanwhile, she earned the gold at the Torrin Lawrence Memorial again clearing her personal best of 187cm, but also won the high jump silver at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational and Florida Relays.
Elena Kulichenko set a new personal best in 2023, clearing 192cm at the SEC Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, which brought her the silver. Earlier, she won the gold at the Martin Luther King Jr Invitational and Texas Tech Invite & Multis. She won the bronze medals in the high jump at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Albuquerque and the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Austin. After showing fantastic results in the United States, Elena Kulichenko also made fantastic international achievements, winning the gold at the Espoo European Athletics U23 Championships and the Chengdu FISU World University Games. During the season she triumphed with her first national title at the Nicosia Cyprus Championships and finished 13th in the final of the Budapest World Athletics Championships.
In 2024, Elena Kulichenko set a new personal best of 197cm to win the gold at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Eugene. She won another national title at the Nicosia Cyprus Championships and also competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, finishing 7th in the final.
Elena Kulichenko photos
