Christina Vukicevic

Ljubica Christina Vukicevic Demidov (Serbian: Ljubica Kristina Vukićević, Љубица Кристина Вукићевић, pronounced [ʎûbitsa kristǐːna ʋukǐːtɕeʋitɕ]; born 18 June 1987) is a Norwegian former hurdler. She represented Ski IL, and was coached by her father Petar Vukićević, who participated for Yugoslavia in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[1] Her brother, Vladimir Vukicevic, is also a hurdler.

Christina Vukicevic

Christina Vukicevic after her win at the 2011 Bislett Games.
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Norway
European Indoor Championships
	2011 Paris	60 m hurdles
World Junior Championships
	2006 Beijing	100 m hurdles
European U23 Championships
	2009 Kaunas	100 m hurdles
	2007 Debrecen	100 m hurdles
European Junior Championships
	2005 Kaunas	100 m hurdles
European Youth Olympic Festival
	2003 Paris	100 m hurdles

Her gold medal in the 2003 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Paris was her first international medal. She finished fifth at the 2004 World Junior Championships, and won a silver medal at the 2005 European Junior Championships in Kaunas.[2] She was forced to take a prolonged break during the summer of 2005 due to a knee-injury and the following surgery. At the 2006 World Junior Championships she took the silver medal with the time 13.34 seconds, a national junior record.[3] She made her senior global debut at the 2007 World Championships and ran a personal best of 13.07 seconds in the heats.[4] Since 2004 she has been the Norwegian champion, last in 2008 with a time of 13.20 seconds.[5]

She has later lowered her personal best time to 13.05 seconds, achieved during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. On the 60 meter hurdles she has 8.03 seconds set on an international meeting in Düsseldorf 2008. She just missed out on the podium with a fourth-place finish at the 2009 European Indoor Championships. She won her first international gold medal at the 2009 European U23 Championships in Kaunas, with a time of 12.99 seconds. She lowered her best that year to 12.74, which she achieved in Hengelo.[6] She competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics but she could not reach heights she had in Hengelo, and was knocked out in the semifinals after running 13.00 seconds.

She started the 2010 season by setting a new best in the 60 metres hurdles with a run of 7.94 seconds – a Norwegian record.[7] She narrowly missed a place in the final at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. At the 2010 European Team Championships she won the bronze medal and came fourth at the 2010 European Athletics Championships later on, recording her season's best of 12.78 seconds in the final.[8]

Her 2011 opened just as it had the previous year, with a national record over 60 m hurdles (7.92 seconds). She set her sights on a medal at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships, hoping to go beyond her fourth place at the 2009 event.[9] She improved her mark further to 7.90 seconds at the BW Bank Meeting in February.[10]

She once dated Norwegian javelin thrower, Andreas Thorkildsen.[11]

In November 2012 it was reported that she had been training with the controversial doctor Srdjan Djordjevic.[12]

She is married to the Norwegian footballer, Vadim Demidov. On 29 February 2016, she revealed that she is expecting a child with Demidov and announced her retirement from professional sport, not having competed since 2012 due to an injury.[13]

Personal bests

Event	Time (sec)	Venue	Date
60 metres hurdles	7.83 NR	Paris,Bercy, France	4 March 2011
100 metres hurdles	12.74 NR	Hengelo, Netherlands	1 June 2009
60 metres	7.76	Oslo, Norway	15 January 2005
100 metres	12.26	Nadderud, Norway	13 June 2004
200 metres	24.90	Fagernes, Norway	15 August 2004

• All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

1. Men 110m Hurdles Olympic Games Moscow 1980 Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
2. Norwegian international athletes – V Archived 2007-09-08 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)
3. Norwegian junior athletics records Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
4. 100 Metres Hurdles – W Heats Archived 2012-09-09 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF (2007-08-27). Retrieved on 2011-02-06.
5. Norwegian championships in 100 metres hurdles Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)
6. U23-gull til Vukicevic Archived 2009-07-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Norwegian)
7. Vukicevic goes to Doha hoping to end Norway's long barren streak. European Athletics (2010-03-02). Retrieved on 2010-03-02.
8. 2010 European Athletics Championships – Women's 100 metres hurdles final. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-02-06.
9. Sonninen, Antti-Pekka (2011-02-05). Vukicevic 7.92 sec world season lead and Torro’s 2.33m star in Tampere. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-02-06.
10. Records tumble in Karlsruhe, Spiegelburg clears 4.76m Archived 2011-02-18 at the Wayback Machine. European Athletics (2011-02-14). Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
11. Jørstad, Atle (2011-06-03). "Brudd mellom Thorkildsen og Vukicevic". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian).
12. http://www.vg.no/sport/friidrett/artikkel.php?artid=10063381
13. Idrettskarrieren over for gravid Vukicevic Demidov

External links

• Christina Vukicevic at World Athletics