Dmitri Babenko

Dmitri Babenko at the World Cup in Heerenveen 2007

Dmitri Alexandrowitsch Babenko ( Russian Дмитрий Александрович Бабенко ; born March 22, 1985 in Petropavlovsk , Kazakh SSR , USSR ) is a Kazakh speed skater of ethnic Russian origin.

Dmitri Babenko has been taking part in international competitions since 2003. Initially, he started at the Junior World Championships, but without achieving significant placements. Babenko made his World Cup debut in February 2004 in Heerenveen . However, it was not until the World Cup in Kolomna in December 2007 that the Kazakh ran as seventh over 1500 meters and eighth over 10,000 meters for the first time among the top ten starters in World Cup races.

Babenko has already competed successfully at national and international championships. Between 2005 and 2007, he has been the Kazakh champion five times over distances from 1500 to 10,000 meters. He also holds four Kazakh national records. At the Asian Championships in 2005 in Ikaho he won the bronze medals over 5000 and 10,000 meters, two years later in Changchun he won silver behind Hiroki Hirako over the two courses . In 2007 in Kearns , he started for the first time in this event on the 10,000 meter course, on which he finished twelfth. The highpoint of the career was the start at the 2006 Olympic Games of Turin . There he competed over 5000 meters and was 23.

At the individual distance Asian championships , Babenko won the bronze medals over 5000 and 10,000 meters in Ikaho in 2005 and the silver medals in Changchun in 2007. The Asian Championships in Shenyang finished 2008 Babenko over 1500 meters by winning the bronze medal. He missed another medal in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in fourth place.

World Cup placements

placement	100 m	500 m	1000 m	1500 m	5000 m	10,000 m	team
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
Top 10				1		2

(As of November 22, 2009)

Web links

• Statistics at speed skating news
• Photos by Dmitrij Babenko at DESGphoto