Olesya Povh

Olesya Povh (Ukrainian: Олеся Повх (Olesya Povkh); born 18 October 1987) is a Ukrainian sprint athlete who specializes in the 100 metres. Her personal best times include 11.08 seconds in the 100 m, achieved in June 2012 in Yalta.

She is an Olympic Games bronze medalist, World Championships bronze medalist, European Championships gold and silver medalist, and European Indoor Championships gold medalist.

Povh is Jewish, and was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. She graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in 2010 and chose to focus on athletics full-time in 2011.

She had her first year of international competition in 2010. She reached the semi-finals of the 60 metres at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships and took a relay bronze medal with Ukraine at the 2010 European Team Championships. She gained selection for the 100 m at the 2010 European Athletics Championships and was eliminated in the semi-finals. However, she went on to have success at the competition as part of the Ukrainian 4×100 m relay team: running with Nataliya Pohrebnyak, Mariya Ryemyen, and Yelizaveta Bryzhina, the team won the gold medal in a national record time of 42.29 seconds – the fastest mark in the world that year. The team reprised their roles for the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup, representing Europe, and took the silver medal behind the Americas team.

She began 2011 with a 60 metres best run of 7.14 seconds, gaining selection for the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships.

At the 2012 Olympic Games in London she and her teammates Hrystyna Stuy, Mariya Ryemyen and Yelizaveta Bryzghina took the bronze medals in the 4 x 100 metres relay by setting a new national record.

On the eve of the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, Povh failed a drugs test and was suspended from competing in the championships.