Inha Babakowa

Inha Alwidossiwna Babakowa ( Ukrainian Інга Альвідосівна Бабакова , English transcription Inha Babakova, née Butkus ; born June 27, 1967 in Ashgabat ) is a former Ukrainian high jumper .

Inha Butkus was born in Turkmenistan to Lithuanian parents. She married Sergei Babakov. Their first son was born in 1990, a second son in the late 1990s. Before the birth of her first son, her best performance in the high jump was 1.92 m from 1988. In 1991 she jumped 2.02 m. At the 1991 World Championships she won bronze with 1.96 m for the Soviet Union behind Heike Henkel (GER) and Jelena Jelessina (URS). Inha Babakova started working for Ukraine in 1993. She won her first medal for Ukraine at the 1993 World Indoor Championships . With 2.00 m she won bronze behind Heike Henkel and Stefka Kostadinowa (BUL). At the World Championships in 1993 Babakova was not at the start. At the European Championships in 1994 Babakowa finished fourth with 1.93 m. At the 1995 World Championships Inha Babakowa finished third behind Stefka Kostadinowa and Alina Astafei (GER) with 1.99 m . Four weeks later, Inha Babakowa jumped her top performance with 2.05 m in Tokyo.

Babakova also won bronze at the 1996 Olympic Games . Behind Kostadinowa with 2.05 m and Niki Bakoyianni (GRE) with 2.03 m, Babakowa jumped 2.01 m. Babakowa jumped all heights in the first attempt, while the Greek had three failed attempts up to 2.01 m, but after Bakoyiánni mastered 2.03 m in the last attempt, Babakowa could no longer counter. At the Indoor World Championships in 1997 Babakowa won silver with 2.00 m behind Kostadinowa and ahead of Hanne Haugland (NOR). At the 1997 World Championships Babakowa finished second behind Hanne Haugland with 1.96 m together with Olga Kalturina (RUS). After the baby break for her second child, Inha Babakowa was back at the 1999 World Championships . At 1.99 m, she jumped as high as the two Russians Jelena Jelessina and Swetlana Lapina , but since Babakova had taken the 1.99 m in the first attempt, she won the title.

At the Olympic Games 2000 Babakowa reached fifth place with 1.96 m. At the World Indoor Championships in 2001 , Babakowa jumped 2.00 m as high as the winner Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE), but because of the majority of unsuccessful attempts, Babakowa only received silver. Her last medal was another silver medal at the 2001 World Championships . As in the World Indoor Championships, Babakowa reached the same height as the winner with 2.00 m, only this time it was Hestrie Cloete (RSA) who won; Kajsa Bergqvist was third with 1.97 m. At the World Indoor Championships in 2003 she was eighth with 1.92 m, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens ninth with 1.93 m.

With a height of 1.80 m Babakowa had a competition weight of 60 kg. She never competed in European Indoor Championships in her entire career, and her fourth place finish in 1994 was her only result in European Open Air Championships. Her Olympic record is also mixed. But she was always a medal candidate in the odd world championship years.

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 2003. SportsBooks, Cheltenham 1998, ISBN 1-899807-16-0 .
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics. German Society for Athletics Documentation eV, Neuss 1999.

Web links

• Inha Babakova in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Inha Babakowa in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )