Valentina Savva
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 May 2005 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Hammer throw |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | Hammer: 70.22 m (2025) NR |
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Valentina Savva (born 17 May 2005) is a Cypriot hammer thrower. She is the national record holder at the discipline.[1]
Early life
She has a Ukrainian mother and a Cypriot father. She lived in Larnaca, Cyprus, and later attended the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States.[2]
Career
She won a gold medal at the 2022 European Athletics U18 Championships in Jerusalem.[3] She placed fourth at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia.[4] Later that year, she was nominated by the European Athletics Association (EAA) Awards in the Women's Rising Star category.[5]
She won a gold medal at the 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships in Jerusalem. [6] She was a silver medalist at the 2023 Games of the Small States in Malta.[7]
In early 2024, she changed coaching set-up from Giorgos Aresti, who she had known from the age of 12 years-old, to national coach Constantinos Stathelakos, however a few days later Stathelakos died in a road traffic accident in South Africa where the team was out for winter training. She worked later that year with Paraskevi Theodorou, Stathelakos’ widow.[2] She was a bronze medalists at the Balkan Athletics Championships in Izmir, Turkey in May 2024.[8] She was a silver medalist at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru with a throw of 67.21 metres.[9][10]
She qualified for the 2025 NCAA Championships in the United States with a winning throw of 67.75 metres at the West Regionals finals.[11] At the NCAA Championships in June, she qualified for the final in Eugene, Oregon, placing tenth in the hammer throw with a best effort of 66.84 metres.[12] She threw a new national record in the hammer throw of 69.56m at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships Second Division in Maribor in June 2025.[13] She was selected to represent Cyprus at the 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen, Norway, winning the bronze medal with a national record of 70.22m.[14][15][16]
References
- ^ "Valentina Savva". World Athletics. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ a b "Cyprus rules the world". Cyprus Mail. 19 April 2025. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "European Athletics U18 Championships". World Athletics. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ Smythe, Steve. "JAMAICAN WOMEN SMASH WORLD JUNIOR 4X100M RECORD". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Women's Rising Star nominees for 2022 Golden Tracks announced". European Athletics. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "European Athletics U20 Championships". World Athletics. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Cyprus tops medal table at Malta games". Financial Mirror. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Cyprus wins 6 medals at Balkan Athletics Championships". Knews. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "World Athletics U20 Championships". World Athletics. 26 August 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "Valentina Savva secures silver medal in hammer throw at World U20 Athletics Championships". Cyprus Mail. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ Faraudo, Jeff (31 May 2025). "Valentina Savva, Mykolas Alekna Lead 8 Cal Qualifiers to NCAA Track". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ "NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships". World Athletics. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
- ^ "Every record set at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships". European Athletics. 1 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ Mills, Steven (12 Jul 2025). "Bergen 2025 - Women's Field Preview". European Athletics. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
- ^ Dennehy, Cathal (18 July 2025). "Anika Thompson strikes gold as Nicola Tuthill wins silver at European U-23 Championships". Independent.ie. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ Szreter-Kelly, Alissa (18 Jul 2025). "Three over 70 metres in women's hammer as Kuhn claims victory". European Athletics. Retrieved 19 July 2025.