Yana Volodymyrivna Shemyakina is a Ukrainian right-handed epee fencer, three-time Olympian, and 2012 individual Olympic champion.
16 Facts About Yana Shemyakina
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Yana Shemyakina is the second of a family of three children: she has a brother six years older than her, Vladimir, and a sister, Lyubov.
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Yana Shemyakina's family was not particularly into sports: her brother had tried a few swimming lessons, but did not get into it.
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Yana Shemyakina's absence had gone unnoticed and she stayed alone in the snow for a long time, almost freezing, before she was found by chance and taken to the hospital.
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Yana Shemyakina began training under Andriy Orlikovsky, who remains her coach as of 2015, and quickly took to the sport.
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Yana Shemyakina soon showed talent, winning the 2002 Cadet World Championships in Antalya.
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Yana Shemyakina's parents were doubtful at first of their daughter's sport ambitions, as they did not believe she could make a living off it, but her coach encouraged her to go on.
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Yana Shemyakina went on to earn a silver medal at the 2003 and 2005 Junior Fencing Championships.
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Yana Shemyakina climbed the podium at her second World Cup event with a bronze medal in Katowice.
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Yana Shemyakina created a surprise at the 2005 European Championships by reaching the final after defeating Romania's Iuliana Maceseanu.
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Yana Shemyakina then prevailed over Hungary's Hajnalka Toth to win her first major title.
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Yana Shemyakina took part in the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok and won the individual event after defeating Israel's Noam Mills.
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Yana Shemyakina then beat World No 1 Ana Maria Branza and reigning European champion Simona Gherman, both by a single hit.
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Yana Shemyakina defeated China's Sun Yujie in the semifinals, then overcame Beijing Olympic champion Britta Heidemann to win the Olympic title.
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Yana Shemyakina competed in four World Cup events, winning the Budapest Grand Prix, but did not take part in the 2013 European Championships nor in the 2013 World Championships.
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Yana Shemyakina is a student at the Lviv State University of Physical Culture.