Oleksandr Yurkov

Oleksandr Iurkov

Personal information
Born	(1975-07-21) 21 July 1975 Synelnykove, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	87 kg (192 lb)
Sport
Country	Ukraine
Sport	Track and field
Event	Combined events
Coached by	Oleg Ruiev, Oleksandr Cherniaiev

Oleksandr Iurkov (Ukrainian: Юрков, Александр Валерьевич; born 21 July 1975 in Synelnykove, Dnipropetrovsk) is a Ukrainian professional decathlete and coach. The participant of the 2000 Sidney Summer Olympics, the silver medalist at the 1997 European Athletics U23 Championships, the Ukrainian champion. The decathlete included in the top ranking of the world's best decathletes. The winner of the 2000-2001 European Cup Championships.

Biography

Oleksandr began his sports career as a student of Dnipropetrovsk Regional College of Physical Culture. At the age of 18, became a member of the junior national team of Ukraine. As part of this team, he first performed in the international arena – at the 1994 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Lisbon. Such coaches as Oleg Ruiev and Oleksandr Cherniaiev contributed to the formation and development of Oleksandr Yurkov as an athlete. In addition, his technical progress in certain multisport discipline was influenced by his mentor Yurii Horbachenko (long jump). In the national arena, the athlete more than a dozen times became the winner of the Ukrainian National Championships, the Ukrainian national record holder in indoor heptathlon in 2001-2009, as well as successfully participated in international competitions, continually winning medals. He finished his sports career in 2006. When he was still an active athlete, Yurkov acted as a mentor for young athletes. For example, the year of working with Yuliya Akulenko led to her qualification for the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, where she finished twenty-third. Subsequently, Oleksandr became a full-time coach at Brovary High Sports Mastery School. Following his success in this position, Oleksandr Yurkov was appointed head coach of the representative national multisport team of Ukraine. His trainees repeatedly took high places in the most notable international competitions. After his contract expired in 2016, Yurkov moved to the United States, where he continued coaching.

Sports achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Ukraine
1994	World Junior Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	—	Decathlon	DNF
1997	European U23 Championships	Turku, Finland	2nd	Decathlon	7888 pts
1998	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	13th	Decathlon	8030 pts
1999	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	—	Decathlon	DNF
2000	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	4th	Decathlon	8574 pts
	Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	16th	Decathlon	7993 pts
2000	European Cup Combined Events	Oulu, Finland	1st	Decathlon	8118 pts
2001		Arles, France	1st	Decathlon	8380 pts
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	6th	Heptathlon	6059 pts
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	9th	Decathlon	8264 pts
2002	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	3rd	Decathlon	8509 pts

• 2001 — 2009 – the Ukrainian national record holder, Heptathlon (indoor) (6160 points).
• His personal best result was 8574 points, Decathlon (outdoor), achieved in June 2000 in Götzis.

Coaching achievements

• 2013 — 2016 – the head coach of the national representative multisport team of Ukraine, as well as the head coach of the Olympic representative multisport team of Ukraine.

The highest results achieved by his trainees:

• 2013 — a gold medal won by Hanna Kasyanova at the IAAF World Championships in

Athletics in Moscow;

• 2016 — a silver medal won by Oleksiy Kasyanov at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics in Portland;

In addition, Iurkov contributed to the career development of Alina Shukh, the world record holder among juniors.

Education

• 1991—1996 Dnipropetrovsk Regional College of Physical Culture.
• 1996—2000 Bachelor's degree, Dnipropetrovsk State Institute of Physical Culture and

Sports.

• 2000—2005 Master's degree, National Tax Academy of Ukraine.

Notes

External links

• Oleksandr Yurkov at World Athletics
• Oleksandr Yurkov at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Olexandr YURKOV at Olympics.com