Aksana Miankova, also transliterated as Oksana Menkova (; born 28 March 1982), is a Belarusian former hammer thrower.
Career Miankova began learning the hammer throw in her late teens. Women's hammer competitions were still a developing sport at that point and she soon won a number of regional competitions. She competed in the qualifying rounds of the 2002 European Athletics Championships and, after a silver medal at the 2003 European Athletics U23 Championships, she represented Belarus at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. Her health suffered in the winter months during this period, however, and her lack of training time hindered her performance in her early career.Dubitski, Mikhail (28 July 2008). Focus on Athletes – Aksana Miankova. IAAF. Retrieved on 14 June 2012.
She finished fifth at the 2005 Summer Universiade and took part in the 2007 World Championships without reaching the final.
Miankova originally won the gold medal at 2008 Beijing Olympics with a throw of 76.34 metres, an Olympic record.Oksana Menkova . sports-reference.com In 2016, she was stripped of her Olympic medal after a re-analysis of her drug sample tested positive."Doping-Ilyin stripped of Beijing, London weightlifting golds". reuters.com. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
On 25 November 2016 the IOC disqualified her from both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games and struck her results from the record for failing a drugs test in a re-analysis of her doping samples from 2008 and 2012.
She missed some of the 2010 season due to taking maternity leave from the sport.Dubitski, Mikhail (5 June 2010). Karolchyk-Pravalinskaya puts 19.95m; Pchelnik 73.03m in Minsk. IAAF. Retrieved on 6 June 2010. She gave birth to a daughter, Arina Menkova, in September that year and she vowed to return to top form in 2011.Oksana Menkova gets ready to return to the ring . European Athletics (25 October 2010). Retrieved on 28 October 2010.
Miankova had a personal best throw of 78.19 metres in April 2012 in Brest. This was the third longest throw by a woman. She equalled this feat at the Olympic Champions meeting in Minsk two months later,Dubitski, Mikhail (14 June 2012). Ostapchuk improves to 21.13m, Menkova hammers 78.19m in Minsk. IAAF. Retrieved on 14 June 2012. then improved to 78.69 m in July, moving up to second of all time behind Betty Heidler.Dubitski, Mikhail (19 July 2012). National records and world leads for Miankova and Ostapchuk in Minsk. IAAF. Retrieved on 20 July 2012.
Achievements Representing 2001European Junior ChampionshipsGrosseto, Italy5th59.24 m2002European Championships Munich, Germany27th (q)60.13 m2003European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland 2nd67.58 mWorld Championships Paris, France22nd (q)64.11 m2005Universiade İzmir, Turkey5th69.09 m2006European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden23rd (q)62.85 m2007World Championships Osaka, Japan—NM2008Olympic GamesBeijing, China DSQ76.34 m2009World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany DSQ69.58 m2012Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom DSQ74.40 m2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia DSQ66.65 m
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