Irina Kostyuchenkova

Irina Kostyuchenkova was a Ukrainian javelin thrower who represented the Soviet Union for most of her career. Kostyuchenkova’s first major international competition was the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart where she finished in eighth place. The following year she won the gold medal at the Summer Universiade in Zagreb. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics she narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing 30 centimetres behind bronze medallist Beate Koch. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Kostyuchenkova represented the Unified Team but she did not advance from the qualifying round.

After retiring from the sport Kostyuchenkova worked as a coach and was a member of the Crimean Republican Athletics Federation. In March 2023 Kostyuchenkova and her mother were both strangled to death by her son who had previously refused treatment in a psychiatric hospital.

Personal Best: JT – 67.00 (1988).