Track Beauty of the Week: Yuliya Gushchina Ю́лия Гу́щина

Yuliya Gushchina Ю́лия Гу́щина is this week's Track Beauty!

Photo from Erik van Leeuwen

The sprinter has been a fixture in Russia's crack relay squads for the past years. As a junior, Gushchina won a hard fought 4x400m relay bronze at the World Junior Championships in Kingston. [1] The Russian women, a proven power in the long relays, followed this up with European Junior title the next year. [2] Ever since 2005, Yuliya has been part of almost all of Russia's major senior championship relay teams. 

To date, Gushchina had won 4x400m relay golds at the European Championships (2006) and the World Indoors (2008). Her campaign at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was remarkably fruitful, having been part of the gold medal-winning Russian 4x100m relay quartet. [3] Yuliya also had a 4x400m relay silver and a fourth place finish in the individual 400m dash. [4]

Yuliya is well-known for her versatility. She has personal bests of 11.13s, 22.53s, and 49.28s in the 100m, 200m, and the 400m, respectively. [5] Since her 200m dash silver at the 2006 European Championships, Gushchina have not managed a return to the medal podium in an individual event.

References:

1. "Yuliya Gushchina." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuliya_Gushchina. Retrieved 10-24-2012.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. "Yuliya Gushchina." http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=187560/index.html. Retrieved 10-24-2012.

Helsinki European Champinships: Women's 4x400m Relay

The 4x400m relay has traditionally been the final event of athletics competitions. From low-key schools meets to the Olympics, the grueling yet exciting event has always been the curtain-ender. 

The recently concluded European Championships in Helsinki were no different. With the Russian Olympic Trials being held the week after, the European athletics powerhouse opted to send its "B" team to Helsinki. With the absence of the perennial favorites, other countries had the opportunity to step up and rise to the occasion. Coming into the European Championships, the Ukrainian quartet were the favorites, having run the fastest time by a European team (3:26.36) this season. The British squad, the reigning World Indoor champions from Istanbul, were also well-regarded. 

The German team (Esther Cremer, Janin Lindenberg, Christiane Klopsch, and Fabienne Kohlmann) sped to an early lead in the first lap. The Ukrainians eventually ate up the gap. By the third leg, the experienced Natalya Pyhyda Наталія Пигида padded Ukraine's lead by around 10 meters. France, Germany, and Great Britain ran head-to-head coming into the final lap. 

The Ukrainians lived up to their top billing, as the foursome of Yuliya Olishevska, Olha Zemlyak, Pyhyda, and Alina Lohvynenko stopped the clock at 3:25.07 - the fourth fastest time in the world in 2012. France (Phara Anacharsis, Luina Guion Firmin, Marie Gayot, and Floria Guei) came in second (3:25.49), almost two-tenths of a second ahead of the gutsy Czech squad (Zuzana Hejnová, Zuzana Bergrová, Jitka Bartoničková, and Denisa Rosolova - 3:26.02) composed mostly of 400m hurdlers. The favored British (Shana Cox, Nicola Sanders, Lee McConnell, and Eilidh Child) wound up in fourth place.

Source:
ECH 2012 Results