Career
He is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, and 2004), and a top 16 finalist at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South of Korea. Pukhnatiy made his first Uzbek team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. On his second Olympic appearance in Sydney 2000, Pukhnatiy placed thirty-second in the 200 m individual medley.
He also held liable for an early takeoff in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, when his Uzbekistan team had been disqualified from the heats.
Pukhnatiy shortened his program at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, when he swam only for the third time in the 200 m individual medley. He cleared a FINA B-standard entry time of 2:07.49 from the Kazakhstan Open Championships in Almaty.
Swimming in heat two, he edged out Chinese Taipei"s Wu Nien-pin to take a fifth spot by nearly half a second (050) in 2:08.24. Pukhnatiy failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-second overall in the preliminaries.