Olha Lyakhova is a Ukrainian middle-distance runner athlete. She is the European Championships silver and bronze medalist, European Team Championships winner, and multiple national champion.
Olha Lyakhova started her competitive career in 2008, winning the 800m gold at the Yalta Ukranian Junior Championships. In the next season, she finished 7th at the Bressanone IAAF World Youth Championships and won the title at the Donetsk Ukrainian Junior Championships, but also earned the 1,000m bronze at the Doha Gymnasiade 2009.
Olha Lyakhova continue with her incredible performance during the next season, as in 2010, she won her first senior national medal, winning the 800m bronze at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships, but also competed at the 2010 Moncton IAAF World Junior Championships and 2011 Tallinn European Junior Championships, missing the medals in both competitions.
In 2012, Olha Lyakhova won the 800m gold at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships but also earned the silver at the Kuortane Games. During the next season, she made her biggest achievement so far, twinning the 800m silver medals at the Tampere European U23 Championships and Gateshead European Team Championships, , but also missed for a while the medals at the Goteborg European Indoor Championships and Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme de Rabat, finishing 5th. Meanwhile, Olha Lyakhova won the silver at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships in 800m. She competed at the Moskva IAAF World Championships in 800m and 4x400m relay but missed the medals for a while.
Olha Lyakhova started the 2014 indoor season by winning the bronze at the Gent Flanders Indoor and the gold at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships in 800m, but also competed at the Sopot IAAF World Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she won the national titles at the Kirovograd Ukrainian Championships in 4x400m relay, the bronze at the Amsterdam Flame Games in 1,000m, as well as the gold at the Angers DecaNation, the silver at the Rieti IAAF World Challenge and the bronze at the Braunschweig European Team Championships in 800m.
In 2015, Olha Lyakhova won the 800m gold at the Mersin ECCC Group A and the bronze at the Rieti IAAF World Challenge but competed at the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme de Rabat. She earned the 800m bronze at the Kirovograd Ukrainian Championships. At the Beijing IAAF World Championships, she finished 5th in the 4x400m relay and reached the semi-finals in the 800m.
In 2016, Olha Lyakhova started the season by winning the 400m gold at the Kiev City Indoor Championships and the 4x400m gold at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she won the bronze at the Lutsk Ukrainian Championships and the silver at the Bellinzona Gala dei Castelli in 800m, but also competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics, where failed to overcome the heats. She earned the gold at the Mersin ECCC Group A in 800m, the silver in 4x400m relay, and the bronze in 400m.
Olha Lyakhova continues being one of the top middle-distance runners in the country in 017. She earned the 400m silver at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships and competed at the Beograd European Indoor Championships, earning the 4x400m relay bronze. During the outdoor season, she won the 400m bronze at the Kropyvnytskiy Ukrainian Championships, but her biggest achievement was the silver at the Taipei Universiade and the gold at the Villeneuve d’Ascq European Team Championships in 800m. Olha Lyakhova also triumphed with the 800m gold at the Turku Paavo Nurmi Games and Memorial Josefa Odlozila, as well as the 800m silver at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial. She competed also at the Golden Label’s Stockholm BAUHAUS Galan and London IAAF World Championships in Athletics but failed to win an honor.
In 2018, Olha Lyakhova won the 800m bronze at the Berlin European Athletics Championships and Golden Spike Ostrava 2018, as well as the 800m silver at the Torun Copernicus Cup. She triumphed with the gold at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships and competed at the Birmingham IAAF World Indoor Championships.
In 2019, Olha Lyakhova won her first Diamond League medal at the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme de Rabat, winning the bronze in 800m. She finished 4th in the Diamond League Final at the AG Memorial Van Damme and competed at the Doha IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Meanwhile, she earned another 800m bronze at the Glasgow European Indoor Championships. During the season she made a great performance in longer distances, as well, winning the national title at the Sumy Ukrainian Indoor Championships in 3000m.
Olha Lyakhova has a short 2020 season, due to the world pandemic, competing only in a few event. However, she earned the gold at the Lutsk Ukrainian Championships in 800m.
Olha Lyakhova also missed the entire 2021 season due to pregnancy and returned on the track only during the outdoor season in 2022, competing at the Eugene World Athletics Championships and Munich European Athletics Championships, but failed to overcome the heats. She succeeded in earning the 800m gold at the Lutsk Ukrainian Championships, finished 9th at the Oslo Bislett Games, 7th at the FBK Games, and 6th at the 4th Irena Szewinska Memorial.
In 2023, Olha Lyakhova won the Kraljevo Balkan Championships title in 800m, as well as the silver at the Lutsk Ukrainian Championships. She competed also at the Budapest World Athletics Championships, but again failed to overcome the heats. She earned the 800m gold at the 12th International Meeting “Citta’ Di Savona” and 1500m silver at the Lviv Ukrainian Team Championships, but also finished 4th at the Chorzow European Athletics Team Championships Second Division in 1500m.
Olha Lyakhova photos
