Olga Shishigina

Olga Vasilyevna Shishigina (Ольга Васильевна Шишигина; born 23 December 1968) is a retired Kazakhstani track and field athlete who mainly competed in the 100 metres hurdles.

Honoured Master of Sports and the pride of Kazakhstan, which has won many medals in various competitions.

Shishigina Olga Vasilievna was born on December 23, 1968, in the city of Almaty.

Olga's first victory was at the Asian Games, which was held in Hiroshima in 1994.

Olga Shishigina's sports career began with a victory at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, she also won silver medals at the 1995 Summer (Gothenburg) and Winter (Barcelona) World Championships; followed by gold at the 1999 World Indoor Championships (Maebashi, Japan) and an Olympic triumph in 2000 in Sydney.

Shishigina was banned between 1996 and 1998 for failing a drug test.

She holds the rank of Major in the Border Guard Service of Kazakhstan.

At an early age, her parents sent their girl to the athletics section.

She really enjoyed this type of sport, was fond of different running types and began to train hard every day.

With the help of diligent training, she quickly entered the international level, where she competed with opponents from different countries.

She is the only gold medalist in both the Championship and the Olympic Games in Athletics.

Since then, she has won 8 first places, 2 silver and two thirds.

She set an Asian record in the 100m hurdles, covering the distance in 12.4 seconds.

All her awards and orders are kept in a modest corner of the house.

She won an Olympic gold medal in 2000, and many medals on the regional and continental level.

She is the only gold medalist in both the Championship and the Olympic Games in Athletics.

Athlete, 2000 Sydney Olympic champion and indoor world champion in the 100m hurdles.

In 2000, at the 27th Summer Olympics in Sydney, on the 13th day of the competition, she first fell behind, then caught up and finished first.

She noticed that her mistake was that she stuck too long at the start.

However, most of the opponents quickly run through the first half and suffocate at the end.

Olga, on the contrary, began to run better only in the second half.

In an interview, she noted that she felt pride in patriotism and the enthusiastic echoes of her compatriots from the podium during the competition, and this gave her more motivation to win.

Olga always says that she never gets bored of photos with fans and that she does not suffer from star fever like many winners.

However, her husband doesn't like when fans try to hug and kiss her.

At an early age, Olga's mom noticed how her daughter was fond of running.

As a child, Olga behaved like a tomboy, played only with boys and always dressed like a boy, as the dresses didn't catch on to her.

At the age of 7, a coach noticed her passion for sports and began to turn her into a future champion.

Since childhood, she has been keen on simple and obstacle courses.

When Olga was 10 she got into the Olympic reserve and at 19 when she entered the national team of the Union, she unexpectedly got married.

Olga managed to taste the flavour of marriage life and give birth to a son.

In the late 80s, the girl began to experience a recession in physical terms, which is why she temporarily left the performances and focused on gaining the optimal form.

Since childhood, she was famous among boys and went on dates a lot.

But accepted only Dmitry who is now her husband.

For almost a month she received flowers from him anonymously (until she knew who the sender was), then he got her heart.

If she is the most daring woman at competitions, then at home she is very homely and hospitable.

Her motto for life: "Family comes first, sport comes second."

With her husband, she raised a son, who, in turn, is also interested in sports, but does not plan to do this on a professional level.

Just like most women she often mentions how much she enjoys spending time with her family.

In almost all interviews she does not get tired of claiming that her victories are the merit of her husband - Dmitry Gridnev, since because of the competition, she dumped all household life on his shoulders, and withstood fatherhood in her opinion with dignity (took care of her son and home in her absence);

Despite the fact that she was loaded with training and competitions, she received higher education at the Kazakh State Academy of Tourism and Sports in 2002.