Lilia Podkopayeva : biography
Lilia Alexandrivna Podkopayeva ( (Liliya Aleksandrovna Podkopaeva); born August 15, 1978) is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast, the Merited Master of Sports of Ukraine (1994). She was the 1995 World All Around champion and the 1996 Olympic All Around champion.
Gymnastics career
1993
In April, Podkopayeva competed at the World Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom. She qualified for the vault final, but crashed on her first attempt and finished last with a score of 8.893.
1994
In April, Podkopayeva competed at the World Championships in Brisbane, Australia. She placed sixth in the all around final with a score of 38.942. In event finals, she placed eighth on vault scoring 9.424, fifth on uneven bars scoring 9.350, and second on balance beam scoring 9.737.http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/90/w1994w.html
In November, Podkopayeva competed at the World Team Championships in Dortmund, Germany. She contributed an all around score of 38.099 toward the Ukrainian team’s fifth place finish.http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/90/wt1994w.html
1995
In October, Podkopayeva competed at the World Championships in Sabae, Japan. She helped Ukraine place fifth which meant that they qualified a full team to the Olympics. Podkopayeva then won the all around final with a score of 39.248. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 9.781, second on uneven bars scoring 9.837, second on balance beam scoring 9.837, and seventh on floor scoring 9.087.http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/90/w1995w.html
1996
At the beginning, Podkopayeva was seriously injured when she fell from the beam in practice, fracturing two ribs.
In May, Podkopayeva competed at the European Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom. She helped the Ukrainian team place third and individually she won the all around final with a score of 39.205. In event finals, she placed third on balance beam scoring 9.756, first on uneven bars scoring 9.825, and first on floor scoring 9.862.http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/90/e1996w.html
Atlanta Olympics
In July, Podkopayeva competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. In the team final, she contributed a combined compulsory and optional score of 78.061 toward the Ukrainian team’s fifth place finish. Podkopayeva then won the all around final with a score of 39.255. In event finals, she placed fifth on uneven bars scoring 9.787, second on balance beam scoring 9.825, and first on floor scoring 9.887.http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/olympics/og1996wag.html She was the fourth and to date last gymnast to win the Olympic all around title as the reigning World Champion and she is the only gymnast to win the all around without winning a team medal. Podkopayeva said, "I did feel some responsibility as the champion of the world and champion of Europe to perform well. I’m very happy I could finish with the floor."http://www.nytimes.com/specials/olympics/0726/oly-gym.html
1997
Podkopayeva originally intended to continue competing after the 1996 Olympics, and she was named to the Ukrainian team for the 1997 Worlds. However, injuries forced her to sit out the competition and to later retire.
Personal information
In 2002, Podkopayeva started the Golden Lilia International Sports Festival. The event is an exhibition featuring artistic and rhythmic gymnasts, acrobats and dancers and its purpose is to inspire young people. She said, "It’s important to us to show outstanding people and brightest talent so that the next generation can follow the best of the best."http://www.intlgymnast.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=661:podkopayeva-pulls-off-golden-lilia-extravaganza&catid=2:news&Itemid=53
In December 2004, Podkopayeva married Ukrainian businessman Timofei Nagorny. They are the parents of two children: Vadim, adopted in Ukraine in July 2006; and Karolina, born in November of the same year. However, as of 2009, Lilia has divorced Timofei and the two share custody of their children.
In 2005, Podkopayeva became United Nations Goodwill Ambassador on HIV/AIDS in Ukraine.http://www.un.org.ua/en/information-centre/news/479-2006-03-13 She is also an Ambassador of Council of Europe for Sport, Tolerance and Fair Play.http://www.un.org.ua/en/component/content/article/27
In 2007, Podkopayeva won Ukraine’s Dancing With the Stars with partner Sergey Kostetskiy. The next year she represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Dance Contest. Along with partner Kirill Khitrov, she placed third in the competition.
External links and sources
Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Ukrainian female artistic gymnasts Category:Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gold medalists for Ukraine Category:Olympic silver medalists for Ukraine Category:Olympic medalists in gymnastics Category:World champion gymnasts Category:Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Category:Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Category:International Gymnastics Hall of Fame inductees Category:Sportspeople from Donetsk
