- Ivan Tsikhan
Ivan Tsikhan ( _be. Іван Ціхан, _ru. Иван Тихон; born
July 24 1976 in Slonim) is aBelarus ianhammer throw er. He is a three-time world champion, two-time Olympic medalist, and European champion.Biography
Tikhon was born in the village of
Hlasievicy ,Slonim district ,Hrodna voblast in Belarus. He now lives inHrodna . His wife Volha is also an athlete, adiscus thrower. They have one son, Ivan. Tsikhan is coached by the former Olympic championSergei Litvinov . [ [http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/08/25/menshammerthrow.html Tikhon's 2003 World Championships win] ] He is 185 cm tall and weighs 105 kg. United States and BBC broadcasters and the IAAF spell and pronounce this name Tsikhan. This is an anomaly, as Ivan himself pronounces his name as Tikhon.Fact|date=August 2008port career
Tsikhan competed at his first World Championships in 1997, but without reaching the final. He also failed to do so at the 1998 European Championships, but finished fourth in the final at the 2000 Olympic Games. He then finished sixth at the 2001 Summer Universiade and ninth at the 2002 European Championships, and competed at the 2001 World Championships without reaching the final. By that time he had managed to throw 79.85 metres, in June 2000 in
Minsk .Ivan Tikhon became the world champion for the first time in 2003 in
Paris , with a throw of 83.03 meters. The same year he won the 2003 Summer Universiade, and finished third at the inaugural World Athletics Final. He had a best of 84.46 metres, achieved in August inMinsk . This was the first season he broke the 80-metre barrier. At the 2004 Olympic Games inAthens Tikhon won the silver medal with a throw of 79.81 metres. At the World Athletics Final he took the silver. He had a season's best of 84.46 metres, from Minsk in May.In
Helsinki , at the 2005 World Championships he repeated his achievement from Paris with a throw of 83.89 metres. In the Belarusian national championship in Brest in July, he came within one centimeter of the world record of 86.74 held byYuriy Sedykh since 1986. [ [http://www.iaaf.org/WCH05/news/Kind=2/newsId=30090.html Report of Tikhan's 86.73 throw] ] At the end of the season he won the World Athletics Final.In 2006 Tsikhan won the European Championships. He also finished second at the 2006 World Athletics Final and the 2006 World Cup. His season's best throe was 81.12 metres. In 2007 Tsikhan won his third World Championships with a throw of 83.64 metres. This was his season's best. He again won the 2007 World Athletics Final.
Tsikhan finished third at the 2008 Olympic Games with a throw of 81.51 metres. He had a season's best of 84.51 metres, achieved in July in
Grodno .Distance Progression
*2008 84.51 Grodno 09/07/2008
*2007 83.63 Osaka 27/08/2007
*2006 81.12 Stuttgart 10/09/2006
*2005 86.73 Brest, BLR 03/07/2005
*2004 84.46 Minsk 07/05/2004
*2003 84.32 Minsk 08/08/2003
*2002 79.04 Minsk 29/06/2002
*2001 78.73 Brest, BLR 08/06/2001
*2000 79.85 Minsk 27/06/2000
*1999 70.37 04/09/1999
*1998 78.03 Saint-Denis 04/06/1998
*1997 77.46 Turku 11/07/1997
*1996 75.32 Minsk 13/07/1996
*1995 66.84 01/01/1995
*1994 62.66 01/01/1994Doping Allegation
On
September 4 , 2008 it was reported that Tsikhan and the silver medalist from the Olympics, fellow BelarusianVadim Devyatovskiy , are under investigation byInternational Olympic Committee for doping offenses. If they are found guilty, the two hammer throwers will be disqualified and forced to return their medals. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/09/04/games.drugs.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest "Drugs hammer blow hits Belarusian medalists"] , "CNN.com ", 2008-09-04. Retrieved on 2008-09-05.]References
*iaaf name|id=130443
* [http://www.iaaf.org/WCH05/news/Kind=2/newsId=31155.html Interview with Tsikhan]
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