Alexia Sedykh


Alexia Sedykh is a French athlete specialising in the hammer throw. She is the daughter of the current world record holder in the men's hammer throw, Yuriy Sedykh and the current world record holder in the women's shot put, Natalya Lisovskaya, both of whom won Olympic gold medals in their disciplines. She is the reigning Youth Olympic Games champion in the girls' hammer throw, having won the inaugural event in Singapore.

Biography and sporting results

Sedykh, the daughter of two current world record holders who competed for the Soviet Union, was born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, in 1993, as her family had moved to the city, where her father lectures at the Leonardo da Vinci University. She picked up sport at a young age and first played tennis and tried throwing the shot put, but switched to the hammer throw at the age 13. She is mostly coached by her father, but her mother, who has come to understand the hammer throw over the years, also contributes to the process. Her half-sister Oksana Kondratyeva is also an international hammer thrower.
Sedykh competed at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics and finished eighth, before winning the event at the 2010 European Youth Olympic qualifying trials. Her personal best is 62.17 metres. She won the gold medal in the hammer throw at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics with a throw of 59.08 metres despite wet conditions.
While she did not expect her parents to travel to Singapore, her father had been invited by the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee as a guest and ended up presenting the mascot at her medal ceremony while her mother watched from the stands.
Sedykh's 3 kg personal best throw of 65.87 metres is a French cadet record.

Personal Bests