{{Short description|Ukrainian sprinter}} {{Infobox sportsperson | image = Olha Bryzhina.jpg | image_size = | caption = Portrait of Olha Bryzhina | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|6|30}} | birth_place = | height = {{height|m=1.71}} | weight = {{cvt|63|kg}} | country = {{USSR}}<br>{{UKR}} | sport = Track and field | event = 4 × 400 m relay | medaltemplates = {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{MedalGold| 1988 Seoul | 400 m}} {{MedalGold| 1988 Seoul | 4 × 400 m relay}} {{MedalCountry | {{EUN}} }} {{MedalGold| 1992 Barcelona | 4 × 400 m relay}} {{MedalSilver| 1992 Barcelona | 400 m}} {{MedalCountry | {{EUN}} }} {{Medal|Competition|European Indoor Championships}} {{Medal|Silver |1992 Genoa|400 m}} {{MedalCompetition | IAAF Grand Prix Final }} {{MedalGold | 1992 Turin | 400 m}} {{MedalCompetition|World Championships}} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{MedalGold |1987 Rome|400 m}} {{MedalGold |1991 Tokyo|4 × 400 m relay}} {{MedalSilver |1987 Rome|4 × 400 m relay}} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{Medal|Competition|European Championships}} {{Medal|Silver |1986 Stuttgart|400 m}} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{MedalCompetition|IAAF World Cup}} {{MedalSilver|1985 Canberra|400 m}} {{MedalSilver|1985 Canberra|4 × 400 m relay}} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{MedalCompetition | European Cup }} {{MedalGold| 1985 Moscow | 400 m}} {{MedalGold| 1985 Moscow |4 × 400 m relay}} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{Medal|Competition|Friendship Games}} {{Medal|Gold |1984 Moscow|4 × 400 m relay}} {{Medal|Bronze |1984 Moscow|400 m}} {{MedalCountry | {{URS}} }} {{Medal|Competition|Goodwill Games}} {{Medal|Gold |1986 Moscow|400 m}} {{Medal|Silver |1986 Moscow|4 × 400 m relay}} }}
'''Olha Bryzhina''' ({{langx|uk|Ольга Бризгіна}}, née '''Olga Arkad'evna Vladykina;''' {{langx|ru|Ольга Аркадьевна Владыкина}}; born June 30, 1963, in Krasnokamsk, Perm Oblast) is a retired athlete who represented the Soviet Union (until 1991) and later Ukraine.
==Career== Bryzhina trained at Dynamo in Voroshilovgrad. Competing in the 400 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay, she was a particularly successful Olympian with three gold medals and one silver. At the 1988 Olympics the Soviet relay team set a new world record of 3:15.17 minutes which is still unbeaten (2025).<ref>{{cite web|title=Athletics - World Record progression|work=International Olympic Committee|url=http://www.olympic.org/common/asp/download_report.asp?file=en_report_139.pdf&id=139|access-date=September 12, 2006}}</ref> Bryzhina also became world champion in 1987.
Bryzhina defeated Florence Griffith Joyner at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the 4 × 400 m relay. Both runners ran the final leg of the relay and took the baton at about the same time. "Flo-Jo" ran a well paced race, chasing Bryzhina closely, and tried to challenge Bryzhina at the 300 m point. However, the challenge from Flo-Jo was unsuccessful and Bryzhina won by a 4m margin, taking gold for the Soviet Union along with a new world record for the USSR team. Bryzhina's time of 47.7 seconds in the 1988 Olympic relay is one of the fastest relay legs ever run by a woman in the history of track and field.
Bryzhina's 400 m personal best of 48.27 seconds makes her the 6th fastest performer of all time in a laned 400 m race.<ref name=IAAFPOB/><ref name=AWPOlimpics12/><ref name=daegu2011>[http://www.daegu2011.org/upload/startlist/1/AT-400-W-h----.SL2.pdf START LIST 400 Metres Women - Round 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210203135/http://www.daegu2011.org/upload/startlist/1/AT-400-W-h----.SL2.pdf |date=2015-12-10 }}, Daegu 2011 (27 August 2011)</ref> She achieved this in the same race that Marita Koch set the current 400 m world record of 47.60 seconds on 6 October 1985 at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra (Australia).<ref name=AWPOlimpics12>[http://www.athleticsweekly.com/downloads/OGstats/w400.pdf 2012 Olympic Games Statistics - Women’s 400m] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917181059/http://www.athleticsweekly.com/downloads/OGstats/w400.pdf |date=2018-09-17 }}, Athletics Weekly</ref><ref name=daegu2011/>
Bryzhina's husband Viktor Bryzhin was also a champion track athlete, winning gold in the 4 × 100 m relay event at the 1988 Olympics. Together they have two daughters, Yelizaveta Bryzhina and Anastasiia Bryzgina,<ref>Romanization of Russian differs from Romanization of Ukrainian</ref><ref>[http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=57106.html Russia dominates on day of upsets in Bergen - European Team Champs Day 2], International Association of Athletics Federations (June 21, 2010)</ref><ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.umoloda.kiev.ua/number/1701/118/60082/ Єлизавета Бризгіна: Головне — не участь, а перемога], Ukrayina Moloda (July 23, 2010)</ref> who are also successful track runners (competing for Ukraine).
Bryzhina and her daughter Yelizaveta both had a best performance of 22.44 seconds over 200 m as of December 2012.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8875102.stm Chris Tomlinson secures European long jump bronze], BBC (August 1, 2010)</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8873823.stm Lewis-Francis accepts blame for 4x100m relay disaster], BBC (July 31, 2010)</ref>
==Personal bests== *200 metres - 22.44 (1985)<ref name=IAAFPOB>[http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/ukraine/olga-vladykina-bryzgina IAAF profile for Olga Bryzgina] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202050415/http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/ukraine/olga-vladykina-bryzgina |date=2012-12-02 }}</ref> *400 metres - 48.27 (1985)<ref name=IAAFPOB/>
==Achievements== {| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}} |- !colspan="6"|Representing {{URS}} |- |1984 |Friendship Games |Prague, Czechoslovakia |bgcolor=cc9966|3rd |400 m |49.52 |- |1985 |World Cup |Canberra, Australia |bgcolor="silver" | 2nd |400 metres |48.27 |- |rowspan=2|1986 |rowspan=2|European Championships |rowspan=2|Stuttgart, Germany |bgcolor="silver"| 2nd |400 metres |49.67 |- |DSQ |4 × 400 m relay | |- |rowspan=2|1987 |rowspan=2|World Championships |rowspan=2|Rome, Italy |bgcolor="gold" | 1st |400 metres |49.38 |- |bgcolor="silver"| 2nd |4 × 400 m relay |3:19.50 |- |rowspan=2|1988 |rowspan=2|Olympic Games |rowspan=2|Seoul, South Korea |bgcolor="gold" | 1st |400 metres |48.65 |- |bgcolor="gold" | 1st |4 × 400 m relay |3:15.17 WR |- |rowspan=2|1991 |rowspan=2|World Championships |rowspan=2|Tokyo, Japan |4th |400 metres |49.82 |- |bgcolor="gold"|1st |4 × 400 m relay |3:18.47 |- !colspan="6"|Representing {{EUN}} |- |rowspan=3|1992 |European Indoor Championships |Genoa, Italy |bgcolor=silver|2nd |400 m |51.48 |- |rowspan=2|Olympic Games |rowspan=2|Barcelona, Spain |bgcolor="silver" | 2nd |400 metres |49.05 |- |bgcolor="gold" | 1st |4 × 400 m relay |3:20.20 |}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{World Athletics||name=Olga Bryzgina}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 400 m Women}} {{Footer Olympic Champions 4x400 m Women}} {{Footer World Champions 400 m Women}} {{Footer World Champions 4 x 400 m Women}} {{Footer WBYP 400m Women}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryzhina, Olha}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:People from Krasnokamsk Category:Soviet women sprinters Category:Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Category:Olympic athletes for the Unified Team Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Category:Olympic silver medalists for the Unified Team Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:World Athletics record holders (relay) Category:Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople Category:Ukrainian women sprinters Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union Category:World Athletics Championships medalists Category:European Athletics Championships medalists Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics Category:Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Category:Soviet Athletics Championships winners Category:World Athletics Championships winners Category:Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Category:Olympic women sprinters Category:Friendship Games medalists in athletics Category:Russian women sprinters Category:Sportspeople from Perm Krai Category:Russian emigrants to Ukraine Category:Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Category:20th-century Russian sportswomen