Background
Sergey is the son of Natalya Shubenkova, a former Soviet heptathlete who ranks among the best of all time in the event.
Sergey is the son of Natalya Shubenkova, a former Soviet heptathlete who ranks among the best of all time in the event.
His first Worlds competition was at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South of Korea where he finished 25th in the heats and did not advanced into the semifinals.
However, Shubenkov only decided at age 16 to make sports his profession with intensive training. He is studying to obtain a degree in law. Shubenkov made a breakout by finishing 2nd to Britain’s Lawrence Clarke at the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.
As a rising athlete to watch out, Shubenkov debuted in the Olympics at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, however he did not manage to reach the finals in men"s 110 m hurdles.
In the 2014 season, Shubenkov competed in the Diamond League series. In May 18, at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, he finished in 4th place - 13.30.
In May 31, taking 5th in the Prefontaine Classic - 13.29. June 11, took 3rd place in the ExxonMobil Bislett Games - 13.37 and in July 3, took 2nd place at the Athletissima - 13.13.
His personal best in the event is 12.98 seconds, which is the current Russian record and the first European descent to ran sub-13s in the men"s 110m hurdles.
Commenting about his success and winning the competition, the 24-year-old quoted: "I can"t describe what I"m feeling, I don"t remember anything about the race. I heard the starting gun and then I opened my eyes and it was finished".
He is the 2015 World Champion, two-time European Champion (2014,2012) and 2013 World bronze medalist in men"s 110 m hurdles. Shubenkov went on to win the European under-23 title in 2011. Shubenkov won his first major European title at the 2012 European Championships in 110 m hurdles. In 2013, Shubenkov took the bronze in 110 hurdles at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan and won the gold medal in 60 m hurdles at the 2013 European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg. He repeated his success and won his first Worlds medal by winning a bronze at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. He repeated as European champion winning gold at the 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zurich. In 2015 season, Shubenkov won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships with a Personal Best of 12.98, he edged out Jamaica"s Olympic reigning bronze medalist Hansle Parchment and American Olympic defending champion Aries Merritt who won the silver and bronze medals respectively. Shubenkov finished 3rd in the overall ranking in the men"s 110 m hurdles of Diamond League series for the 2015 season and won the last leg of the series in Zurich, beating David Oliver and Orlando Ortega.
Quotations: "I can"t describe what I"m feeling, I don"t remember anything about the race. I heard the starting gun and then I opened my eyes and it was finished".
