Belarusian athlete Vadim Devyatovsky: biography, sports and political career, personal life

Vadim Devyatovsky, whose biography is presented in this article, is a world-famous Belarusian athlete, world champion and prize-winner of the Olympic Games. After completing his sports career, he found himself in politics and social activities.

Biography and sports career

Vadim Devyatovsky was born in 1977 in the city of Novopolotsk, which is located in the Vitebsk region of Belarus. From an early age he was interested in athletics, and especially hammer throwing. This is the sport that the future sportsman chose for himself.

The first competitions for Vadim were the city and district championships. Already at these stages Devyatovsky showed his enormous sporting potential.

A few years later, the young hammer thrower becomes the most promising athlete of Belarus. Especially memorable for him was 2005. First, Vadim Devyatovsky took part in the Universiade, where he created a sensation by winning a gold medal.

In the same year the Belarusian athlete made his debut at the World Championship. And again there were pleasant surprises. Flicking a shell at a victorious distance, Devyatovsky became a gold medalist.

In 2006, Vadim managed to rise again to the podium of international competitions - he took second place at the European Championships.

But the best performance Devyatovsky demonstrated at the two Olympics. In Athens, he did not reach the medal a bit, satisfied with the fourth place. And four years later in Beijing, Vadim Devyatovsky became the silver medalist of the Olympics.

Unfortunately, the sports career of the Belarusian athlete has not been without scandals. After the Beijing Olympics, his doping test showed a positive result. Devyatovsky was threatened with the loss of a silver medal and lifetime disqualification.

But, fortunately, everything worked out. In 2010, the IOC acknowledged that the doping tests were taken with violations of the rules, Vadim returned his award and dropped all charges.

Political and social activities

Beginning in 2012, Vadim Devyatovsky presents his native Novopolotsk as a deputy of the People's Assembly of Belarus, is also deputy chairman of the House of Representatives committee, which deals with health, physical culture and family and youth policy.

Devyatovsky is a permanent member of the Belarusian Union of Lawyers. Also Vadim Anatolyevich is on the commission, which evaluates the work at the competition of scientific works on sports law. In 2014, Devyatovsky was elected head of the Belarusian Athletics Federation.

In addition to the title of Honored Master of Sports of Belarus, the athlete was awarded the medal "For Labor Merit". In the list of honorable residents of Novopolotsk recently appeared a new record - Vadim Devyatovsky.

Personal life

With his wife Olga, the athlete met in the early 2000s, but the wedding was postponed all the time because of constant training and competition. Officially, the couple legalized their relationship in September 2010.

It was the wife who helped Devyatovsky not lose faith in himself and in justice, when he was accused of using illegal drugs. Now they live in Novopolotsk and raise a son.