Newly crowned European shot put champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus.

The European women’s shot put champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk believes reining-in the frequency of her trips to the discotheque in Minsk has played a major part in her so far flawless 2010 season.

 

Ostapchuk led home a Belarus one-two on Tuesday from Natallia Mikhnevich to reverse the finishing positions from the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg four years ago.

Yet it was no real surprise, as the 29-year-old Ostapchuk has been in imperious unbeaten form in 2010. She started the season on fire, posting a stunning national indoor record of 21.70m at the Belarus Championship in February – to climb to third on the all-time indoor world lists.

She maintained that form through the winter to land the World indoor title in Doha and is currently leading the Diamond League standings following wins in Shanghai, Gateshead, Paris and Monaco.

But what is perhaps forgotten in the haze of her recent success, is that for the past few seasons she has had to play second fiddle to New Zealand’s towering Valerie Vili, the Olympics champion and 2007 and 2009 World gold medallist.

So what has made the difference?

“I treat everything in my life a lot more seriously than a few years ago,” said Ostapchuk in an exclusive interview with European Athletics. “I change my technique but I also change my lifestyle. There are no discotheques no more and I go to sleep earlier.”

When pressed about her frequency in the discotheque she admitted with a giggle: “Maybe I would go two or three times on a weekend.”

Of course, Ostapchuk’s success this season is far more than cutting down her time in the disco. The Belarussian believes under her coach Aliksandr Efimov she has now a far more professional approach. Spending much of the winter training in basic indoor facilities in the Belarus capital while temperatures outside plunge to -30c demands iron discipline, but she is now much more secure in her approach.

“Now I have a proper system to prepare and a three-year plan right up the Olympic Games in London. I can physically prepare very well.”

Born in the small southern Belarus town of Stolin – just 15km from the Ukrainian border - she says her strength come from her grandfather, a powerfully-build farm worker from the region’s agricultural heartlands.

However, her first sporting passion was basketball and she was good enough to be offered the opportunity to join a professional club aged 13.

Yet that route was quickly quashed as that would have meant moving away from the family home.

“My mother said, no, because she wanted me to be close to her,” she says with a grin.

Basketball’s loss was athletics gain. Her natural strength was quickly identified and at the age of just 17 she made her international debut at the 1998 World Junior Championship in Annecy, winning gold with 18.23m. The following year she added the European Junior title to her burgeoning CV and in 2001 was crowned European Under-23 champion.

Ostapchuk quickly adapted to life in the senior ranks, winning silver at the 2003 World Championships in Paris and in 2005 the Belarus athlete looked poised for a period of domination. That year made a huge advance, throwing a national record of 21.09m and also landing the world title in Helsinki.

Yet Ostapchuk’s career became a frustrating succession of near misses and second places. In 2006 she lost out on gold to Mikhenvich by 0.01 at the European Championships and up until this season the giant figure of Valerie Vili has consistently stood in her path. The New Zealander dominated from 2007-9, but when asked whether her recent change of lifestyle was prompted in an effort to overhaul Vili she was honest enough to admit: “Maybe, yes. Vili is in very good condition. She is strong and tall, but I am sure if I can hit my goals I will continue to beat her.”

Let us not overlook her success in Barcelona, though. She was greeted with celebratory telegrams at the team hotel from Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Minister for Sport Oleg Kachan. She is a major celebrity in her homeland, although she is not comfortable with the attention and regularly turns down TV opportunities in her homeland.

Which brings us again to Belarus, because let us not forget that Ostapchuk’s success is also a celebration of her country’s excellence in the women’s shot. She led home a one-two here in Barcelona and they were only denied a clean sweep when Russian champion Anna Adeyeva dislodged 2000 Olympic champion Yanina Pravalinskay-Karolchyk from the bottom rung of the podium to take bronze.

“I was disappointed Belarus could not win the bronze,” added Ostapchuk. “Yanina and I are coached by the same person, and although we are not very close friends we are still good friends.”

So why are Belarus – a nation of a little 10m people – such a dominant force in this event?

“Oh, there is really no reason,” explained Ostapchuk. “Maybe, it is genetics as we are Norse people.”

To complete a perfect year she hopes to secure victory in the IAAF Continental Cup in Split in September before she will sit down with her coach and set fresh goals for 2011.

But first one final question remains. Does she miss the discotheque?

“Yes, sometimes,” she says with a smile. “I still go, but only now at the end of the season.”