Olexandra Tymoshenko

Olexandra Olexandrivna Tymoshenko () born 18 February 1972 in Boguslav, Ukraine, USSR) is a former Soviet Individual Rhythmic Gymnast. She started gymnastics in 1980 at age 8 and she retired at age 20 in 1992. She was coached by the famous mother/daughter combination of Albina and Irina Deriugina. Olexandra won the All-Around Bronze at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics she won the Gold.

When Olexandra was seven, her father (a construction engineer) was invited to work in Kiev. There Alexandra started training at the Deriugins School of Rhythmics. At age 14 she became The Junior Soviet Champion and, shortly after, collected three medals at a European championships: a gold for the Rope, a silver for the Hoop and a bronze for the Ribbon. Then, during a regular Soviet competition, she placed second behind the top of the Soviets, Marina Lobach of Belarus, and so won the right to go to the 1988 European championships.

At the 1988 European Championships in Helsinki, Finland she shared the All-Around title with two Bulgarians, Elizabeth Koleva and Adriana Dunavska. There she also won 3 golds - Hoop, Clubs and Rope. Several months later she won the All-Around Bronze at the Seoul Olympics, and after that she became the USSR All-Around Champion for the first time.

In June 1989 at the Soviet Championships in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Olexandra was performing her Ball routine while another girl had already started her Ribbon routine. When Olexandra was performing a...
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