Olena Vitrychenko

Olena Vitrychenko Олена Вітриченко
Elena Vitrichenko smiles during her farewell celebration at 2000 Deventer Grand Prix
Personal information
Country represented	Ukraine
Born	November 25, 1976 (1976-11-25) (age 34) Odessa, USSR
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Medal record Olympic Games Bronze 1996 Atlanta All-Around World Championships Gold 1994 Paris Ball Gold 1995 Vienna Ribbon Gold 1996 Budapest Ribbon Gold 1997 Berlin All-Around Gold 1997 Berlin Rope Gold 1997 Berlin Clubs Gold 1997 Berlin Ribbon Gold 1999 Osaka Rope Gold 1999 Osaka Hoop Silver 1992 Brussels 3 ropes/3 balls Silver 1993 Alicante Ball Silver 1993 Alicante Team Silver 1994 Paris Ribbon Silver 1995 Vienna Rope Silver 1996 Budapest Clubs Silver 1997 Berlin Hoop Bronze 1993 Alicante Hoop Bronze 1993 Alicante Clubs Bronze 1995 Vienna Clubs Bronze 1995 Vienna Team Bronze 1997 Berlin Team Bronze 1999 Osaka Ribbon Bronze 1999 Osaka Team European Championships Gold 1991 Cascais Clubs(Junior) Gold 1991 Cascais Team(Junior) Gold 1994 Thessalonika Rope Gold 1994 Thessalonika Hoop Gold 1994 Thessalonika Ribbon Gold 1994 Thessalonika Team Gold 1996 Asker Team Gold 1997 Patras All-Around Gold 1997 Patras Hoop Gold 1998 Porto Clubs Gold 1999 Budapest Ball Gold 1999 Budapest Ribbon Silver 1991 Cascais Ball(Junior) Silver 1994 Thessalonika All-Around Silver 1995 Telford All-Around Silver 1995 Telford Clubs Silver 1996 Asker Ball Silver 1997 Patras Ribbon Silver 1998 Porto Team Silver 1999 Budapest Rope Bronze 1992 Stuttgart 3 ropes/3 balls Bronze 1995 Telford Ribbon Bronze 1996 Asker Rope Bronze 1996 Asker Clubs Bronze 1998 Porto Rope

Olena Ihorivna Vitrychenko (Ukrainian: Олена Ігорівна Вітриченко; born 25 November 1976 in Odessa, USSR) is an Individual Rhythmic Gymnast. She comes from a gymnast family - her mother Nina was also a rhythmic gymnast and indeed was also her daughter's coach at the famed Deryuguina School in Kiev. Vitrichenko was put into rhythmic gymnastics in 1980 at 4 years of age.

Although she made her first international appearance in 1986, many feel that her international career started at the European Championships in Stuttgart, Germany in 1992 where she as a part of the Ukrainian Group won a bronze medal. Elena began gaining experience and winning medals at major events.

A worldwide and sympathetic crowd favorite, Vitrichenko's career was marked by numerous judging controversies, usually not in her favor. In the 1994 World Championships in Paris, she was placed 3rd in the hoop event final behind teammate, Ekaterina Serebrianskaya, and the Belarusian Larissa Lukyanenko who were both tied for the gold (9.875); but an upgraded score (9.825 to 9.875) for Bulgarian world champion, Maria Petrova, knocked Vitrichenko out of the bronze medal position and eventually came out 4th. In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Vitrichenko seemed to be a contender for the gold medal by placing first after preliminaries and second after the semi-finals. And despite a clean all-around performance in the final, she was only given scores in the 9.8 range (the highest score received in the rope event 9.866). She actually placed 2nd behind teammate, Ekaterina Serebrianskaya, after the first rotation, rope, but her brilliant ball routine score of 9.800 threw her out of the gold medal hunt, and she even had to fight for the bronze with Russian rival, Amina Zaripova, and only managed that medal at all due to Zaripova's mishandling of the ribbon, stepping on it before her final toss. Ironically, she scored tremendously well in the execution half of her routine scores (4.900 and above) but was marked down in the composition half which was her stronger point. The crowd booed and jeered at the judges for their decision, and a disappointed Vitrichenko would later say that she felt that she was robbed of the gold. Not to be deterred, however, in the following year she became both the World and the European All-Around champion.

The 2000 European Championships in Zaragoza, Spain featured one of the most egregious judging scandals in the sport with Vitrichenko once again at its center. At the peak of a long and well-publicized feud with the head of the Ukrainian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, Olena, Vitrichenko was inexplicably placed in 17th place, and withdrew in protest. In the official evaluation of videotapes, it was mentioned that certain judges had clearly discriminated against Vitrichenko in comparison to scores given to other gymnasts. Shortly after the scandal the FIG sanctioned the guilty judges: Natalia Stepanova (Belarus), Gabriele Stummer (Austria), Galina Marjina (Latvia), Ursula Sohlenkamp (Germany), Natalia Lashtsinkaya (Russia), and Elena's nemesis Irina Deryugina.

Madame Abruzzini, the then president of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee, wanted more severe punishment, such as suspension for life of the guilty judges. In the end, the 6 guilty judges were suspended for one year and they could not go to the judge course in Rome. Their federations were forced to select another judge for the Sydney Olympics who met the requirements of FIG. The other 26 judges that were at Zaragoza were also warned and were not allowed to judge in Sydney. This was the first time in RG history that such massive inappropriate behavior was proven and penalized.

Vitrichenko's struggles continued when after the Europeans, her own federation tried to deny her a spot on the Ukrainian Olympic team in 2000. She appealed to the International Olympic Committee who overturned the decision, and awarded her a spot on the team. Vitrichenko seemed to put all the aggravation behind her, and performed beautifully at the Olympics. However, she appeared to be the victim of favoritism once again as the reigning World and European Champion, Alina Kabaeva, edged Elena for the bronze medal despite a major drop on her hoop routine.

Vitrichenko retired from the sport after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, admitting that the omnipresent judging politics would prevent her from achieving further success. She maintains that she is not embittered by her controversial placings. "The most important thing that I have learned in elite sports is to experience other people's victories and to forgive people," she says. Though her near misses are often better remembered than her success, Vitrichenko nevertheless won eleven World titles and ten European titles throughout her career.

She is at the moment teaching rhythmic gymnastics in Spain.

External links

• Elena Vitrichenko at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
• International Gymnast Online

Persondata
Name	Vitrichenko, Olena
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 November 1976
Place of birth	Odessa, USSR
Date of death
Place of death