Ellina Zvereva

Sport: Athletics (discus throw)

Born: 16 November 1960

Birthplace: Tula, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

Honors:

Honored Master of Sport of the Republic of Belarus

Order of the Fatherland 3rd Class, 2000

Career highlights:

Gold, Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000

Bronze, Olympic Games in Atlanta, 1996

Gold, World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg, 1995

Gold, World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, 2001

Silver, World Championships in Athletics in Athens, 1997

Silver, European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, 1994

Biography:

Ellina Zvereva was born on 16 November 1960 in the Russian city of Tula. When she was eight, her mother took her to a figure skating club. Three years later, Ellina qualified for the rank of Third-Class Sportsman. She also did cycling, swimming, basketball, volleyball, as well as the disciplines of multisport competitions. However, talented coach Valery Koval introduced Ellina Zvereva to discus throw.

Ellina Zvereva quit athletics several times, but by the age of 15, she decided to focus exclusively on discus throw. When she was already a master of sport, Ellina Zvereva, met Mechislav Ovsyanik in the training camp in Adler, who invited her to train in Minsk. In 1986, Ellina Zvereva gave birth to a daughter and stopped training for a while. This upset her coach, so Ellina Zvereva resumed training under the tutelage of her husband, javelin thrower Viktor Bochin.           

In 1988, Ellina Zvereva threw the discus beyond 71m three times. Her best result was 71.58m at the Brothers Znamensky Memorial. It was not surprising that the athlete started dreaming of taking part in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. At the Olympics, she ranked fifth due to an injury. Later, she won the CIS summer championships with the result of 68.82m and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. However, Russian athletes were sent to the Olympics instead of Ellina Zvereva.

In 1993, Ellina Zvereva represented the team of the Republic of Belarus and took silver medals at the European Athletics Championships and the World Championships in Athletics. In 1995, the athlete was victorious at the World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg with the result of 67.84m.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ellina Zvereva threw the discus to a distance of 65.64m, snatching a bronze medal.

Over the next four years, the athlete and her husband did a tremendous work to help her reach the full potential and show her best at the next Olympic Games. This yielded good results. It took Ellina Zvereva only 4 attempts to throw the discus to a distance of 68.40m and secure a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000.

Honored Master of Sport Ellina Zvereva demonstrated her talent and excellent training at two more Olympic Games – the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where she placed 15th and 6th respectively.

Ellina Zvereva retired from sport ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London and became a coach.

 



Share: