Kulichenko the first Cypriot track & field athlete to head to the Paris Olympics

Elena Kulichenko became the first Cypriot track and field athlete to officially secure her participation in the Paris Olympic Games. According to the Cyprus Federation of Amateur Athletics (KOEAS) the Cypriot champion and athlete of the University of Georgia shared the gold medal in the NCAA Finals with Ghanaian Rose Amoamina Yeboa of Illinois, where the head coach is Petros Kyprianou. The two girls passed with their third attempt the 1. 97m. (new personal best for both), failing three times in the 2. 00m. And because they had the same failed attempts before (out of three), they shared the gold medal, according to the NCAA regulations. The 1. 97m. is the threshold for direct qualification for the Olympics and Kulichenko proved she deserves to be in Paris. Before reaching the age of 22, Kulichenko already has a World Championship final under her belt, she is the European under-23 champion, she is already a gold medalist in the very difficult US University Championships and she has already booked a place fo r her first appearance in the Olympic Games. The 1. 97m. is also a new national record for women and under 23 years old, with Elena Kulichenko breaking the 1. 95m, which she created this year on May 11. KOEAS congratulated Kulichenko for her multiple successes as well as her coach, Ryan Baily. Source: Cyprus News Agency