Vita Pavlysh

Viktoriya Anatoliïvna Pavlysh (Ukrainian: Вікторія Анатопіївна Павпиш; born 15 January 1969 in Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union) is a former Ukrainian track and field athlete who specialized in the shot put.

Vita Pavlysh

Personal information
Native name	Віктоҏія Анатоліївна Павпиш
Full name	Viktoriya Anatoliïvna Pavlysh
Nationality	Ukrainian
Born	(1969-01-15) 15 January 1969 (age 56) Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Country	Soviet Union (1987-1991) Unified Team (1992) Ukraine (1993-2004)
Sport	Athletics
Event	Shot put
Turned pro	1987
Retired	2004
Achievements and titles
Personal best	21.69 m (1998)
Medal record Women's Athletics Representing  Ukraine World Championships 1997 Athens Shot put 2001 Edmonton Shot put 2003 Paris Shot put World Indoor Championships 1997 Paris Shot put Disqualified 1999 Maebashi Shot put Disqualified 2004 Budapest Shot put European Championships 1994 Helsinki Shot put 1998 Budapest Shot put European Indoor Championships 2002 Vienna Shot put 1998 Valencia Shot put IAAF World Cup 1998 Johannesburg Shot put World Athletics Final 2003 Monte Carlo Shot put IAAF Grand Prix Final 1997 Fukuoka Shot put 1993 London Shot put European Throwing Cup 2001 Nice Shot put 2002 Pula Shot put 2004 Marsa Shot put

Pavlysh was stripped of her 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medal after she had tested positive for anabolic steroid stanozolol at the event in Maebashi, Japan. She claimed that she may have taken the drug to aid her recovery from injury. For this offence she received a two-year ban.

Five years later at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary she won the title again only to fail the drug test for the same reason. She was again stripped of her title and banned from athletics for life.^[1]

Whether because of her drug-use or not, Pavlysh was famed for her very muscular lower body. During a state television show her middle-thigh was measured at 98 cm and her calf at 65 cm.

See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences