Natalia Mikhnevich reflects on marital bliss and medals European Athletics (EAA) – News

Andrei and Natalia Mikhnevich are a formidable team and the Belarus husband-and-wife duo are hoping to take back to their Minsk home a pair of Shot Put medals from the forthcoming World Indoor Championships in Doha, which will be held between 12-14 March.

"We hope it will be like Beijing (the 2008 Olympic Games, where Andrei got the bronze and Natalia the silver medals). Everyone congratulated us and kept chanting, 'Happy Family'," reflected Natalia recently.

"I was proud of my husband, he was proud of me. Our individual successes are always multiplying by two. If it happens that one of us does not win a medal then the other supports and comforts them," added the 2006 European Athletics Championships gold medalist, who is determined to defend her Shot Put title in Barcelona this summer.

Natalia admitted that marital support and comfort was required by both parties after last summer's World Championships in Berlin. In contrast to their Beijing successes, both returned from the German capital empty handed. Natalia finished fourth and Andrei seventh but rather than be despondent, the pair embarked on winter training with relish.

"We have set new goals and are striving to achieve them," said Natalia.

The effort was shown at the Belarus Indoor Championships last month. Andrei, the 2003 world champion and 2006 European Athletics Championships silver medalist, produced a national indoor record of 21.81m and Natalia threw an indoor personal best of 20.28m, performances that put them both second on this year's world rankings for their events.

The pair got married in March 2007 and their son Ilya was born later that year in August.

Like many athletes, particularly long distance runners, Natalia believes that she has become a better athlete since the birth of her son, despite credentials that include winning the European Junior, European Under 23 and World Indoor titles in the past.

"After the birth of Ilya my body changed and I've become stronger. I appear to have a completely different force. My pregnancy was not accidental. I met Andrei, he really became my second half, and I really wanted to have his child. My husband and I thought that a year before the Olympics would be a good time so that I still have time to prepare for the Games.

"Even when I was pregnant, I continued to train. At six months into the pregnancy, I was still throwing the Shot Put, not by jumping, but sitting down. At ninth months, I still did strengthening exercises, practiced in the gym, doing yoga, a lot of walking and swimming in the pool," added Natalia.

The Mikhnevichs have a very democratic domestic system. "Whoever is free does something. We don't divide the work into male and female jobs. For instance, I can go to the store and Andrei will feed the child Ilya. Andrei helps me in everything."

However, as Andrei and Natalia have different coaches, she also paid tribute to their own mothers who regularly look after Ilya while they are training.

As he will be nearly three at the time of this summer's European Athletics Championships, little Ilya may yet travel to Barcelona with his parents.

"He was too young at the time of Beijing and it was very far. My mother watched the competitions with him (on the television). Maybe he did not really understand, what was happening, after all he was only one year old then, but he saw his mother and his father and was sending us big kisses," joked Natalia.

Belarus is sending a team of nine athletes to Doha and four of them would appear on paper to have good medal chances.

In addition to the Mikhnevichs, Nadzeya Ostapchuk leads the 2010 women's Shot Put world rankings by well over a metre with 21.70m while multi-events expert Andrei Krauchanka is a proven competitor with silver medals from the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2008 World Indoor Championships.

Curiously, Belarus has come away from the last five World Indoor Championships with three medals on each occasion.

Belarus team for Doha:

Men
60m hurdles: Maksim Lynsha
Shot Put: Andrei Mikhnevich, Pavel Lyzhyn
Heptathlon: Andrei Krauchanka

Women
1500m: Natalia Kareiva
60m Hurdles: Alina Talai
Long Jump: Veronika Shutkova
Shot Put: Nadzeya Ostapchuk, Natalia Mikhnevich

Thanks to Nastassia Marynina of the Belarus federation for her help with this article.

 European Athletics (EAA) – News