Natalia Lipkovskaya (russian: Наталья Викторовна Липковская, born 26 April 1979) is a Russian retired individual

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 coordi ...

. She is the 1997 World All-around silver medalist and the 1997 Grand Prix Final All-around champion. She was coached by Olga Buyanova.

Personal life

Lipkovskaya holds a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. She now works as a psychologist working for the

Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation The Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation (russian: Всероссийская федерация художественной гимнастики, lit=All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics) is the governing body of rhythmic gymnastics i ...

Career

Lipkovskaya began gymnastics training in 1983. She trained at the Dynamo Krasnoyarsk club, coached by Olga Buyanova. She was second in the national championship in 1993 and 1995. Lipkovskaya made her first international appearance at the 1995 tournament in

Corbeil-Essonnes Corbeil-Essonnes () on the River Seine is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Although neighboring Évry is the official seat of the Arrondissement of Évry, the sub-prefecture building ...

, ranking 7th. At the 1995 World championship in

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, she was included on the 1995 Russian team. Although Lipkovskaya won a team gold medal, she did not yet win an individual medal as opposed to her more experienced and recognized teammates

Amina Zaripova Amina Vasilovna Zaripova (russian: Амина Василовна Зарипова; tt-Cyrl, Әминә Васил кызы Зарипова, born 10 August 1976) is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast who now works as an elite rhythmi ...

and

Yanina Batyrchina Yanina "Yana" Farkhadovna Batyrshina (russian: Янина "Яна" Фархадовна Батыршина; born 7 October 1979) is a former individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for Russia. She is the 1996 Olympics All-around silver medali ...

. In 1996, Lipkovskaya won an international tournament in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and a bronze in one event at the European championship, but missed the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in favor of her higher-ranking teammates. The Russian national team head coach,

Irina Viner Irina Alexandrovna Viner-Usmanova (russian: Ирина Александровна Винер-Усманова; born July 30, 1948) is an Uzbek-born Russian rhythmic gymnastics coach who is head coach of the Russian national team, president of the ...

, opted to send then-Russian number one and number two Batyrchina and Zaripova to the Olympic competition in Atlanta. In 1997, following the injury of

, Lipkovskaya led the Russian national team at the 1997 World championship in Berlin, scoring two gold (hoop and team), three silver (All-around, rope, ribbon) and one bronze (in clubs). She was ranked second in the All-around finals behind Ukrainian

Olena Vitrychenko Olena Ihorivna Vitrychenko ( uk, Олена Ігорівна Вітриченко, russian: Елена Игоревна Витриченко; born 25 November 1976), also known as Elena Vitrichenko, is an Individual Ukrainian Rhythmic Gymnast. Sh ...

. Lipkovskaya then became the 1997 Grand Prix Final champion in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

, Netherlands and in the event finals, she won gold in (rope, hoop); silvers in (clubs, ribbon). Early in 1998, she began her first in a series of treatments for a recurring back injury—an injury many believe was caused by the increasing pressure on gymnasts to display more back flexibility. After several hospital stays and a short-lived return to the gym, she decided to end her career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipkovskaya, Natalia Russian rhythmic gymnasts 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Irkutsk Sportspeople from Krasnoyarsk Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships 20th-century Russian women 21st-century Russian women