Nadezhda Olizarenko

Nadezhda Olizarenko
Olizarenko leading the 1980 Olympic 800 m final
Personal information
Born28 November 1953
Died18 February 2017 (aged 63)
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)
800 m, 1500 m
ClubArmy Club Odesa
Coached byBoris Gnoyev
Svetlana Gnoyeva
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800 m – 1:53.43 (1980)
1500 m – 3:56.8 (1980)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
1980 Moscow 800 m
1980 Moscow 1500 m
European Championships
1978 Prague 800 m
1978 Prague 4×400 m
1986 Stuttgart 800 m
European Indoor Championships
1985 Piraeus 800 m
Summer Universiade
1979 Mexico City 800 m

Nadezhda Fyodorovna Olizarenko (Russian: Надежда Фёдоровна Олизаренко, Ukrainian: Надія Федорівна Олізаренко; née Mushta; 28 November 1953 – 18 February 2017) was a Ukrainian middle-distance runner, competing internationally for the USSR. At the 1980 Olympics she won the 800 m event, setting a world record at 1:53.43, and finished third in the 1500 m. Her 800 m world record was broken by Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983 but remains the second-best of all time. Only two other athletes (Pamela Jelimo of Kenya in 2008, Caster Semenya of South Africa in 2018) have come within a second of Olizarenko's mark since it was set.

In 1984, she helped set the current 4×800 m relay world record . In 1986, Olizarenko won the European 800 m. In 1988, she failed to reach the Olympics final.