Iryna Dekha

Iryna Mykhailivna Dekha (Ukrainian: Ірина Михайлівна Деха, born May 14, 1996, in Kharkiv)^[1] is a Ukrainian weightlifter. She is a two-time Olympian and a four-time European champion (2016, 2021, 2022 and 2023).

Iryna Dekha

Dekha in 2020
Personal information
Native name	Ірина Михайлівна Деха
Full name	Iryna Mykhailivna Dekha
Born	(1996-05-14) May 14, 1996 (age 28) Kharkiv, Ukraine
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	81 kg (179 lb)
Sport
Sport	Weightlifting
Club	MSU
Coached by	Yevhen Shylov
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	Snatch: 123 kg (2023) Clean and jerk: 141 kg (2016) Total: 260 kg (2016)
Medal record Women's weightlifting Representing  Ukraine European Championships 2016 Førde −75 kg 2021 Moscow −76 kg 2022 Tirana −81 kg 2023 Yerevan −81 kg Summer Universiade 2017 Taipei −90 kg World Juniors Championships 2016 Tbilisi −75 kg 2015 Warsaw −75 kg European Junior & U23 Championships 2016 Eilat Junior −75 kg 2019 Bucharest U23 −76 kg 2015 Klaipėda Junior +75 kg
Updated on June 4, 2022

Career

Dekha started her trainings while studying at the Professional Sports College Kharkiv which graduates were, among others, Oleksiy Torokhtiy, Vanda Maslovska, Oleksandr Likhvald, Kamila Konotop, Viktoriya Shaimardanova.^[2] She was disqualified for two years at the very beginning of her professional career for doping violations, namely using stanozol.^[3]

Her international career after doping ban was resumed in 2015. She showed high performances in junior age, winning several medals, and managed to qualify for the national team. Her first senior championships was 2015 European Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she finished 8th,^[4] but next year she would become European champion.^[5]

Dekha competed for Ukraine at the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[6] She lifted in total 247 kg and finished 5th.^[7]

2017 European Championships in Split, Norway, was not successful for Dekha since she failed to lift any weight in clear and jerk. Later that year, she became champion of the 2017 Summer Universiade where she won the competition in the −90 kg category.^[8][9]

In 2018, Dekha debuted at the World Championships and finished 6th in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In 2019, she was 5th.

Dekha was one of two Ukrainian weightlifters at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She went to Tokyo as reigning European champion after winning the title at the 2021 European Championships in Moscow, Russia. Though she finished 2nd in snatch at the Olympics, she failed to lift any weight in clear and jerk.^[10]

Dekha changed her weight category to 81 kg and won her third European title in 2022 in Tirana, Albania, where she lifted in total 253 kg and surpassed the silver medalist and her team fellow Alina Marushchak by 18 kg.^[11][12]

She won the gold medal in the women's 81 kg event at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships held in Yerevan, Armenia.^[13]

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Summer Olympics
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	75 kg	111	114	116	4	133	138	141	8	247	5
2020	Tokyo, Japan	76 kg	110	113	113	2	131	131	131	—	—	—
World Championships
2018	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	81 kg	98	101	103	6	117	121	123	10	226	6
2019	Pattaya, Thailand	76 kg	105	108	110	4	126	129	132	5	242	5
2022	Bogotá, Colombia	81 kg	117	120	122		138	142	142	6	260	4
European Championships
2015	Tbilisi, Georgia	75 kg	100	104	110	8	111	111	115	11	215	8
2016	Førde, Norway	75 kg	110	113	115		127	131	135		250
2017	Split, Croatia	75 kg	114	117	120		137	137	137	—	—	—
2021	Moscow, Russia	76 kg	110	113	115		130	135	135		248
2022	Tirana, Albania	81 kg	110	114	116		130	134	137		253
2023	Yerevan, Armenia	81 kg	115	120	123		135	139	139		258