Nadzeya Ostapchuk

She rose to top international level in the early 2000s, winning two consecutive silver medals at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and also finished as runner-up at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. She finished fourth at her first Summer Olympics in 2004, but reached the peak of her discipline the following year, winning at the 2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships and then becoming 2005 World Champion. Her career became overshadowed by Valerie Adams, who succeeded her as World Champion in 2007, although she continued to win major medals, including silvers at the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships and a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Her personal best is 21.70 m thrown at the Belarusian championships in 2010, making her the third best indoor thrower on the all-time lists. She scored her first world indoor title at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, throwing a championship record of 20.85 m. She won further honours at the 2010 European Cup Winter Throwing meeting, easily winning gold ahead of compatriot Natallia Mikhnevich. She defeated the reigning champion, Natallia Mikhnevich, at the 2010 European Athletics Championships to claim her first outdoor European Championship. She won all six of the IAAF Diamond League meetings that she competed in that year, becoming the inaugural women's shot put trophy winner, and suffered just one defeat in the entirety of 2010 – a runner-up placing behind Valerie Adams at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup.

In March 2013, Astapchuk was stripped of her 2005 World Championship title after samples from the 2005 event were retested by the IAAF. In 2014 IAAF announced that she was sanctioned to four years ineligibility, ending 14 August 2016, and that her results from 13 August 2005 to 12 August 2007 and since 5 August 2012 were annulled.

On 12 January 2017 it was announced that because of a doping violation she had been disqualified from the 2008 Olympic Games.

During the 2020 Belarusian protests Astapchuk became a member of the Coordination Council of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.