Marharyta Serhiïvna Dorozhon (Ukrainian: Маргарита Сергіївна Дорожон, Hebrew: מרגריטה סרגייבנה דורוז'ון; born 4 September 1987) is an Israeli javelin thrower. Born and raised in Ukraine, she competed for that country until she became an Israeli citizen in 2014.[2][3]
Dorozhon represented Israel in April 2015, four months after she became a citizen. In May 2015 she won the IAAF World Challenge Golden Spike Ostrava javelin throw in the Czech Republic, with a personal best and Israeli national record winning throw of 63.85. The following month, she won a gold medal and again set an Israeli national record at the IAAF Diamond LeagueBislett Games in Norway, with a throw of 64.56 m. She won a gold medal representing Israel at the 2015 European Games that same month, with her throw of 58.00 m establishing a new European Games record.
Dorozhon married Alex Bugoslavsky, an Israeli, and became an Israeli citizen in December 2014.[4][5] She concurrently switched her sporting allegiance to Israel.[4][8] Soon thereafter she joined the Israeli club Hapoel Emek Hefer.[8][17] In April 2015, in her first competition representing Israel, Dorozhon set a new Israeli national record with a throw of 63.34 m at the Hadassah Youth Cup in Hadassah Neurim, Israel.[8][18][19]
On 26 May 2015, Dorozhon won the IAAF World Challenge Golden Spike Ostravajavelin throw in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, with a winning throw of 63.85 m in the second round.[3][20] In winning the event, she upset favorites 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova of the Czech Republic and 2011 world champion Mariya Abakumova of Russia.[21][22] It was her second Israeli national record of 2015.[20][23] The throw was her personal best.[3] She said: "The fact that my name appeared next to an Israeli flag in my first international competition in which I ... represented my new country gave me a great honor, and I hope people start to appreciate Israel in international women's javelin."[6]
Dorozhon in June 2015.
She won a gold medal and again set a national record for the third time in 2015 when she represented Israel at the IAAF Diamond LeagueBislett Games in Oslo, Norway on 11 June 2015, winning the women's javelin with a new personal record throw of 64.56 m, as former two-time Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova took the bronze medal and the current world champion, Christina Obergföll, came in seventh.[24][25][26][27] The throw was the eighth-best in the world to that point in 2015, and equaled the distance of the fourth-place throw at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[26] She won a gold medal representing Israel at the 2015 European Games on 21 June 2015, with her throw of 58.00 m establishing a new European Games record.[24][28]
In September 2015 she won an IAAF World Challenge in Berlin, Germany.[29] She defeated world champion Katharina Molitor in her home country with a throw of 63.24m.[29]
She did not qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, because though she met the IAAF Qualifying Standard for the Olympics she did not meet the higher 60-meter standard required by the Olympic Committee of Israel in 2016, as she was struggling with a groin injury.[30]
In June 2017 she won a bronze medal at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Hengelo, the Netherlands, with a throw of 60.63m.[31]
