Elena Vladimirovna Volchetskaya ( be, Алена Уладзіміраўна Цюнянкова (Валчэцкая); russian: Елена Владимировна Волчецкая; born 4 December 1944) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

retired

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

. She competed at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

in all artistic gymnastics events and won a gold medal in the team all around competition. Individually her best results were fifth place in the vault and eighth all around. During her career she won five national titles: three in the vault (1961, 1962, 1965) and two on the balance beam (1963, 1964). In 1966 she broke her ankle. The same year she married, changing her last name to Tyunenkova, and next year gave birth to her first daughter, effectively retiring from sport. In 1965 she graduated from an institute of pedagogy, and for some 30 years trained gymnasts in her native Grodno. She was the first coach of

Olga Korbut Olga Valentinovna Korbut, ; russian: Ольга Валентиновна Корбут, group=nb (born 16 May 1955) is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the " Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silve ...

, but after one and half years passed her to

Renald Knysh Renald Ivanovich Knysh (russian: Ренальд Иванович Кныш, be, Рэнальд Іванавіч Кныш; 10 September 1931 – 19 April 2019) was a Soviet and Belarusian coach in artistic gymnastics. Considered one of gymnastics' ...

, who previously raised Volchetskaya. Between 1998 and 2006 she coached in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, United States, together with

Nikolai Miligulo Nikolai Pavlovich Miligulo (russian: Николай Павлович Милигуло; born 27 December 1936) is a retired artistic gymnast from Belarus. He competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a silver me ...

and

Olga Gotsmanova Olga may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olga (name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters named Olga or Olha * Michael Algar (born 1962), English singer also known as "Olga" Places Russia * Olga, Russia, ...

. In 2006, she returned to Grodno to her 94-year-old mother and daughters Tatyana and Irina.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Volchetskaya, Elena 1944 births Living people Soviet female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics