Evgenia Pavlina (born 20 July 1978) is a former Belarusian

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and co ...

who competed as an individual. She was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Career

Pavlina started gymnastics at the age of 6 with her first coach Anna Baranova. From age 15 she trained 48 hours per week at club Dynamo Minsk with Belarusian master Galina Krylenko and Natalia Stepanova. Pavlina made her senior debut at the 1993 Medico Cup in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, where she placed 3rd in the all-around and took two more bronze medals with clubs and ribbon at the final events. She got her big break later that year, when teammate

Larissa Lukyanenko Larisa Gennadyevna Lukyanenko ( Russian: Лариса Геннадьевна Лукьяненко, born 7 August 1973) is a former Belarusian individual rhythmic gymnast. Career Loukianenko took up rhythmic gymnastics in 1980 at age 7. She wa ...

broke her ankle in training. At 15 years old, Pavlina was called upon to replace Lukyanenko in the 1993 World Championships. She helped the Belarusian placed 5th in the Team Event. Pavlina was not chosen for the 1996 Belarusian Olympic Team, but she did compete in most major International events that year. After the retirement of Lukyanenko, Pavlina stepped up to become the Belarusian number two. At the 1997 Schmiden International, she scored the all-around silver as well as all four apparatus golds. At the Derjugina Cup she also earned a pair of bronze medals for the all-around and rope. At the Gymnastics Masters competition in Germany, she won a pair of medals in all four apparatus, silver with hoop, bronze with ball, and gold with clubs and ribbon. With Tatiana Ogrizko's retirement the following World Championships, Pavlina took over leadership and became Belarusian number one. she won the silver medal at the 1998 European Championships in all-around, as well as a gold in ribbon and team event. She also finished 3rd in All-around at the

1998 Goodwill Games The 1998 Goodwill Games was the fourth edition of the international sports competition the Goodwill Games, which were created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. The competition was held i ...

. Although Pavlina still competed at major internationals in 1999, she had begun to be eclipsed by teammate

Yulia Raskina Yulia Raskina (; born April 9, 1982 in Minsk, Belarus) is a Belarusian former rhythmic gymnast and trainer. She is the 2000 Olympics silver medalist, the 1999 World All-around silver medalist, the two time (2000,1999) European All-around silve ...

. She then retired from the sport by that same year.

References

External links

* 1978 births Living people Belarusian rhythmic gymnasts Gymnasts from Minsk Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games 20th-century Belarusian women {{Belarus-rhythmic-gymnastics-bio-stub