Olha Bryzhina (Ukrainian: Ольга Бризгіна, maiden name Olga Arkad'evna Vladykina; Russian: Ольга Аркадьевна Владыкина; born June 30, 1963, in Krasnokamsk, Perm Oblast) is a retired athlete who represented Soviet Union (until 1991) and later Ukraine.
Bryzhina trained at DynamoinVoroshilovgrad. Competing in the 400 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay, she was a particularly successful Olympian with three gold medals and one silver. At the 1988 Olympics the Soviet relay team set a new world record of 3:15.17 minutes which is still unbeaten (2022).[1] Bryzhina also became world champion in 1987.
Bryzhina successfully defeated Florence Griffith Joyner at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the 4 × 400 m relay. Both runners ran the final leg of the relay and took the baton at about the same time. "Flo-Jo" ran a well paced race, chasing Bryzhina closely, and tried to challenge Bryzhina at the 300m point. However, the challenge from Flo-Jo was unsuccessful and Bryzhina won by a 4m margin, taking gold for the Soviet Union along with a new world record for the USSR team. Bryzhina's time of 47.7 seconds in the 1988 Olympic relay is one of the fastest relay legs ever run by a woman in the history of track and field.
Bryzhina's 400m personal best of 48.27 seconds is the women's 4th best result of all time in a laned 400m race.[2][3][4] She achieved this in the same race that Marita Koch set the current 400m world record of 47.60 seconds on 6 October 1985 at the Bruce StadiuminCanberra (Australia).[3][4]
Bryzhina's husband Viktor Bryzhin was also a champion track athlete, winning gold in the 4 × 100 m relay event at the 1988 Olympics. Together they have two daughters, Yelizaveta Bryzhina and Anastasiia Bryzgina,[5][6][7] who are also a successful track runners (competing for Ukraine).
Bryzhina and her daughter Yelizaveta both had a best performance of 22.44 seconds over 200m as of December 2012.[8][9]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Soviet Union
| |||||
| 1984 | Friendship Games | Prague, Czechoslovakia | 3rd | 400 m | 49.52 |
| 1985 | World Cup | Canberra, Australia | 2nd | 400 metres | 48.27 |
| 1986 | European Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | 2nd | 400 metres | 49.67 |
| DISQ | 4 × 400 m relay | ||||
| 1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | 1st | 400 metres | 49.38 |
| 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:19.50 | |||
| 1988 | Olympic Games | Seoul, South Korea | 1st | 400 metres | 48.65 |
| 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:15.17 WR | |||
| 1991 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 4th | 400 metres | 49.82 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | 3:18.47 | ||||
Representing  Unified Team
| |||||
| 1992 | European Indoor Championships | Genoa, Italy | 2nd | 400 m | 51.48 |
| Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | 2nd | 400 metres | 49.05 | |
| 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:20.20 | |||
