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SHEMYAKINA Yana

epee
Rank-
Pts-
Age38
HandR

Personal Information

Family Husband Oleg Lopatenko, twin daughters Daria and Serafima [2017]

Residence Kyiv, UKR

Occupation Athlete

Languages English, Russian, Ukrainian

Higher education Coaching - Lviv State University of Physical Education: Ukraine

License number 05011986002

Club

GoldSilverBronzeTotal
World Cup-4711
Luxembourg (LUXEMBOURG), 2008-02-02Katowice (POLAND), 2003-03-01
Lobnya (RUSSIA), 2010-03-20Florina (GREECE), 2008-03-15
Barcelone (SPAIN), 2011-03-11Doha (QATAR), 2011-02-12
Leipzig (GERMANY), 2014-02-07Rio de Janeiro (BRAZIL), 2011-05-06
Rio de Janeiro (BRAZIL), 2012-05-04
Xuzhou (CHINA), 2014-11-14
Barcelone (SPAIN), 2015-01-23
World Championship--11
Kazan (RUSSIA), 2014-07-17
Zone Championships--11
Plovdiv (BULGARIA), 2009-07-13
Grand Prix3-25
Doha (QATAR), 2010-01-23Saint-Maur (FRANCE), 2008-02-22
Nankin (CHINA), 2011-06-11Nankin (CHINA), 2010-05-14
Budapest (HUNGARY), 2013-02-02
Olympic Games1--1
Londres (GREAT BRITAIN), 2012-07-30
1--1
Bratislava (SLOVAKIA), 2018-09-16

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? She began training in the sport at age 11 in Lviv, Ukraine.

Why this sport? A friend invited her to try the sport. "I refused at first, but she was very persistent. We didn't fence for three months, just ran, but then eventually we began to learn."

Club / Team Dynamo: Kyiv, UKR

Name of coach Andriy Orlikovsky [personal], UKR, from 1997; Oleg Lopatenko [husband, personal], UKR, from 2010

Training Regime She has one daily training session.

Handedness Right

General Interest

Hobbies Snowboarding. (unian.ua, 02 Nov 2020)

Memorable sporting achievement Winning gold in individual epee at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 25 May 2021; Athlete, 10 Jun 2019)

Hero / Idol Ukrainian swimmer Yana Klochkova, Hungarian fencer Timea Nagy. (sport-express.ua, 25 Jul 2013; kp.ua, 01 Aug 2012)

Sporting philosophy / motto "Never give up, but only go forward to victories through the thorns to the stars." (unian.ua, 02 Nov 2020)

Awards and honours In recognition of her sporting achievements, she received the Order of Princess Olga [third grade] in 2007, and the Orders for Merit [third and second grades] in Ukraine in 2015 and 2012. (nffu.org.ua, 11 Mar 2015; president.gov.ua, 15 Aug 2012)

She has received the title of Honoured Master of Sport in Ukraine. (mms.gov.ua, 21 Dec 2021)

Milestones She was the first fencer representing Ukraine to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games when she triumphed in individual epee at the 2012 Games in London. In doing so, she also became the first female fencer representing Ukraine to win an individual Olympic medal of any colour. (SportsDeskOnline, 25 May 2021)

Famous relatives Her husband Oleg Lopatenko has served as her coach. (sport-express.ua, 30 May 2019)

Other information MATERNITY BREAK
She took time away from the sport after competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and gave birth to her twin daughters in 2017. She returned to competition in September 2018. "I could not imagine how I would leave my daughters with someone else to go training and compete. But when I looked at the photos of our girls from competitions, I began to realise that I was missing the battles, awards and adrenaline. At first I decided just to run, but even this was very difficult. The children were already about nine months old when we found a nanny and I decided to try it. Fencing is my life, this is what I love." (sport-express.ua, 30 May 2019; isport.ua, 17 Sep 2018)

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