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TATIANA LYSENKO
Tatiana Felixovna Lysenko (born on June 23, 1975, in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR) is a Soviet and
Ukrainian gymnast, who had her senior competitive career from 1990 to 1994.
Tatiana was known for her exceptional difficulty level and haughty style on the floor. She won many major medals but
her inconsistency prevented her from even greater achievements. She was a serious contender for the 1992 Olympic title and
1991 and 1993 world titles, but mistakes prevented this.
Lysenko was a member of the Soviet Union team during the early 1990s, a period where their pool of talent was exceptionally
deep. Merely to make a major team represented a huge achievement, since competition was so fierce. At the time, the USSR had never lost the
women's team competition in the Olympic Games.
She made her senior debut in 1990, winning the all-around competition in the World Cup. The next year she was selected
for the Soviet team to the world championships in Indianapolis, where they won the team competition. She qualified to
the all-around competition, ahead of her talented teammates
Oksana Chusovitina,
Rozalia Galiyeva and Natalia Kalinina, all accomplished gymnasts.
However, she fell from beam and did not win any individual medals.
Tatiana's most notable achievements came at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She represented the Unified Team
(ex-Soviets) along with Svetlana Boguinskaya,
Tatiana Gutsu, Elena Grudneva,
Rozalia Galiyeva and
Oksana Chusovitina. As expected, they took the team title by a comfortable
margin. Another mistake in the all-around took Lysenko out of the running once again, but she later redeemed herself.
Performing the most difficult vault in the entire competition, she won a bronze in that event. Then to the beam, where
Lysenko performed a difficult routine immaculately and was rewarded with gold. By the end of the competition, she was
twice an Olympic champion.
Unlike many of her Soviet teammates, Lysenko opted to continue after the breakup of the USSR, and represented her native
Ukraine at the 1993 World Championships in Birmingham. She won bronze in the all around, which would have been gold had
she not stepped out of the floor. Lysenko was the only ex-Soviet on the podium, a reflection of how the political upheaval
affected sports.
After her competitive career was over, Tatiana moved to the United States and now lives in California. She recently
graduated from law school.
For more information, visit her
profile page on the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique website.
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