Mariya Kuchina is an Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 athlete who specialises in the high jump

High jump

The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....

. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics

2010 Summer Youth Olympics

The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, officially known as the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games , were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in the city-state of Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010, in the XXIX Olympiad. They were the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, a major...

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Kuchina won her first international medal at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics

2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics

The 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics is the sixth edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics. They were held in Brixen, Italy from 8–12 July 2009. Athletes must be aged 16 or 17 on 31 December 2009 to compete....

, where she cleared a personal best of 1.85 m to take the silver medal

Silver medal

A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

 behind Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 Alessia Trost

Alessia Trost

Alessia Trost, born in Pordenone on March 1993 is an Italian female high jumper that has won the 2009 World Youth Championship in Athletics in Brixen. Trost has also won the Italian youth championship in 2008. At the first Youth Olympics 2010 she won a silver medal clearing 1.86 meters, to finish...

. She was also the silver medallist at the 2009 European Youth Olympic Festival

European Youth Olympic Festival

European Youth Olympic Festival, known by its initials EYOF, is a biennial multi-sport event for youth athletes from the 48 member countries of the association of European Olympic Committees. EYOF has a summer edition, held for the first time in Brussels in 1991, and a winter edition, which began...

 and 2009 Gymnasiade

Gymnasiade

The Gymnasiade, or World Gymnasiade, is a quadrennial international multi-sport event which is organised by the International School Sport Federation . It is the largest event that the ISF holds – boy and girl athletes represented 37 countries at the 2006 Gymnasiade...

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In the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, Kuchina won a gold medal in the girls' high jump with a clearance of 1.86 m, ahead of Alessia Trost.

She started her 2011 season with a major scalp in the form of Yelena Slesarenko

Yelena Slesarenko

-2004:Largely unknown before 2004, she kickstarted the season by clearing 2.04 metres and winning the World Indoor Championships. When the outdoor season started she won the SPAR European Cup with the same result, improving her personal best from 1.97...

, who she defeated with an indoor best jump of 1.90 m. A greater effort soon followed on the Moravia High Jump Tour

Moravia High Jump Tour

The Moravia High Jump Tour is an elite-level, invitation-only, indoor Athletics competition for the world's best high jumpers, both men and women. It is a high jump-only competition, held in the eastern Czech region of Moravia. Although the competition is held in small basketball gynasiums, without...

 meet in Třinec

Trinec

Třinec is a town in Frýdek-Místek District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on the Olza River, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. The town has 37,405 inhabitants as of 2009, in 2001 17.7% of the population were Poles...

, as she cleared 1.97 m to claim the world junior indoor best which Desislava Aleksandrova had held since 1994.

Major competitive record

2009	World Youth Championships 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics is the sixth edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics. They were held in Brixen, Italy from 8–12 July 2009. Athletes must be aged 16 or 17 on 31 December 2009 to compete....	Brixen Brixen Brixen is the name of two cities in the Alps:*Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy*Brixen im Thale, Tyrol, AustriaBrixen may also refer to:*Bishopric of Brixen, the former north-Italian state.... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	2nd	1.85 m
2010	Summer Youth Olympics 2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, officially known as the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games , were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in the city-state of Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010, in the XXIX Olympiad. They were the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, a major...	Singapore Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...	1st	1.89 m Athletics at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics – Girls' high jump The Girls' High Jump competition at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore took place on August 18 and 22 in Bishan Stadium.-Medalists:-Qualification:The top 8 jumpers qualified to the A Final, while the other jumpers competed in the B Final....
2011	European Indoor Championships 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 31st European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011.A record high of 630 athletes, representing 46 countries, were entered into the three-day competition. Twenty-six track and field events were contested at the...	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... , France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	9th	1.92 m 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's high jump The Women's high jump event at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held at March 5–6, 2011 with the final at March 6 at 15:30.-Records:-Qualification:...

Personal bests

Event	Best (m)	Venue	Date
High jump (outdoor)	1.91	Penza Penza -Honors:A minor planet, 3189 Penza, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1978, is named after the city.-Notable residents:...	July 7, 2010
High jump (indoor)	1.97	Třinec Moravia High Jump Tour The Moravia High Jump Tour is an elite-level, invitation-only, indoor Athletics competition for the world's best high jumpers, both men and women. It is a high jump-only competition, held in the eastern Czech region of Moravia. Although the competition is held in small basketball gynasiums, without...	January 26, 2011

External links