Svetlana Boginskaya

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Leonidovna and the family name is Boginskaya.

Svetlana Boginskaya
Святлана Багінская
Personal information
Full name	Svetlana Leonidovna Boginskaya
Nickname(s)	Belarusian Swan, Goddess of Gymnastics
Country represented	Belarus
Former countries represented	CIS ( Unified Team), Soviet Union
Born	(1973-02-09) February 9, 1973 Minsk, Belarusian SSR, USSR (now Belarus)
Height	158.5 cm (5 ft 2 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Head coach(es)	Tatiana Grosovivich
Former coach(es)	Lyubov Miromanova
Retired	1997
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 1 1 World Championships 5 3 1 European Championships 9 1 0 World Cup Final 1 1 1 Goodwill Games 2 1 1 American Cup 0 1 0 Total 21 8 4 Representing Soviet Union Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Team 1988 Seoul Team 1992 Barcelona Team 1988 Seoul Floor Exercise 1988 Seoul All-Around World Championships 1989 Stuttgart Team 1989 Stuttgart All-Around 1989 Stuttgart Floor Exercise 1991 Indianapolis Team 1991 Indianapolis Balance Beam 1987 Rotterdam Team 1991 Indianapolis All-Around 1987 Rotterdam Balance Beam European Championships 1989 Brussels All-Around 1989 Brussels Vault 1989 Brussels Floor Exercise 1990 Athens All-Around 1990 Athens Vault 1990 Athens Uneven Bars 1990 Athens Balance Beam 1990 Athens Floor Exercise World Cup Final 1990 Brussels Floor Exercise 1990 Brussels All-Around 1990 Brussels Vault Goodwill Games 1990 Seattle Team 1990 Seattle Floor Exercise 1990 Seattle All-Around 1990 Seattle Balance Beam Representing CIS ( Unified Team) Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona Team World Championships 1992 Paris Vault Representing Belarus European Championships 1992 Nantes Balance Beam 1996 Birmingham All-Around American Cup 1996 Fort Worth All-Around

Svetlana Leonidovna Boginskaya (born February 9, 1973) is a former artistic gymnast for the Soviet Union and Belarus of Belarusian origin. She is a three-time Olympic champion, with an individual gold medal on vault from the 1988 Summer Olympics and team gold medals from the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Boginskaya was born in Minsk, Belarus on February 9, 1973. She practiced figure skating before beginning gymnastics at age six, after seeing Nadia Comăneci compete at the Olympics. Two years later, she moved to Moscow to train full-time at the Round Lake Gymnastics Center, where she trained with Lyubov Miromanova.

Gymnastics career

Boginskaya became a member of the Soviet national team at age 14. She competed internationally for the first time at the 1987 World Championships, where she placed third on balance beam; the team placed second. She went on to compete in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, where she won four medals: gold in the team competition, gold on vault, silver on floor, and bronze in the individual all-around.

Three days after the Olympics, Boginskaya's longtime coach, Lyubov Miromanova, died by suicide. Miromanova had been a surrogate mother to Boginskaya, coaching and caring for her after she moved from Minsk to train full-time in Moscow.

After Miromanova's death, Boginskaya began training with Tatiana Grosovivich. Under Grosovivich's tutelage, Boginskaya competed at the 1989 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where she received gold in all-round, vault, and floor. Later that year, she placed first in all-around, floor, and team events at the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, eventually dedicating her performance to her late mentor.

The following year, Boginskaya became the fourth woman to win the gold medal in every individual event at the European Championships. She also competed at the FIG World Cup, where she placed first on floor.

In 1991, Boginskaya won gold at the World Championships on beam and silver in the all-around; the team won gold. In a controversial finish, Boginskaya lost the gold medal in the all-around to American gymnast Kim Zmeskal.

In 1992, Boginskaya competed at the European Championships, where she won gold on beam with a score of 9.95. However, she fell during her final event, the floor exercise, ultimately finishing fifth in the all-around. Her teammate, Tatiana Gutsu, received the all-around title. Despite Boginskaya's fall on floor, she remained a favorite to win the all-around title at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. At the World Championships, Boginskaya won gold on vault and was selected for the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Many in the gymnastics world expected a duel between Boginskaya and Zmeskal at the Olympics, and the media promoted this story. At the Olympic games, Boginskaya won her third Olympic gold in the team competition; in the individual competition, she faltered on the uneven bars and finished fifth in the individual all-around; Zmeskal finished tenth.

Following the 1992 Olympics, Boginskaya retired. However, she returned to the sport in 1995, stating that she had been inspired by Katarina Witt who had a memorable comeback at the 1994 Winter Olympics. Boginskaya moved to Houston, Texas to train with Bela Karolyi and upgraded the difficulty of her routines. At the 1995 European Championships, she won silver in the all-around.

In 1996, at age 23, she placed second in the all-around at the American Cup behind one of Karolyi's pupils, Kerri Strug. She also placed second at the European Championships in Birmingham behind the defending world champion Lilia Podkopayeva. She then progressed to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was one of a number of older gymnasts competing. Boginskaya competed in the all-around and vault finals, but did not medal. The Belarusian team came in sixth.

Following the 1996 Olympics, Boginskaya retired from gymnastics.

Boginskaya is among a small group of women to have competed in three Olympic Games; and due to the break-up of the Soviet Union, she competed at each Games under a different flag: USSR, the Unified Team, and Belarus. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2005.

Boginskaya has remained active in both the American and international gymnastics communities, and works as a consulting guest coach. In the early 2010s, she frequently supported former teammate Oksana Chusovitina, who continues to compete in her late 40s, and has appeared on the competition floor as her coach.

Post-gymnastics and personal life

Boginskaya lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and two children. She runs several businesses, including an online gymnastics apparel retailer and a summer camp for gymnasts.

In popular culture

After the 1992 Olympics, Boginskaya appeared alongside her compatriot Vitaly Scherbo in the music video for the song "Revolution Earth," by The B-52's.

Trademarks

Boginskaya's floor routine at the 1988 Olympics was done to the music of Georges Bizet's Carmen, and another routine she performed in parts of 1990 and 1991 was choreographed by the Bolshoi Ballet. Her uneven bars exercise included a signature giant to handstand with 180° split into a toe-on element. Commentators and reporters cited her height and slim stature as elements she used to her advantage through attention to posture and body alignment; meanwhile they also suggested that she relied more on execution and presentation than difficulty, though she did usually fulfill requirements and earn 10.0 start values. She frequently landed dismounts and vaults with her right foot placed slightly in front of her left, an intentional touch of artistry that also helped her stick landings.

Competitive history

Overview of competitive history

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
1987	World Championships	2nd				3rd
1988	Olympic Games	1st	3rd	1st			2nd
1989	European Championships		1st	1st	4th	4th	1st
	World Championships	1st	1st		8th		1st
1990	European Championships		1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
	Goodwill Games	1st	2nd			3rd	1st
	World Cup Final		2nd	3rd	4th	4th	1st
1991	World Championships	1st	2nd	5th		1st	7th
1992	European Championships		5th	8th	4th	1st
	World Championships			2nd		6th
	Olympic Games	1st	5th	4th		5th
1995	World Championships	8th	16th
1996	American Cup		2nd	1st	1st	1st
	European Championships	4th	2nd	6th	6th	4th	6th
	Olympic Games	6th	15th	5th

Detailed competitive history

Year	Competition Description	Location	Competed For	Apparatus	Final		Qualifying
					Rank	Score	Rank	Score
1991	World Championships	Indianapolis	Soviet Union	Team	1st	396.055
				All-Around	2nd	39.736	1st	79.548
				Vault	5th	9.850	1st	19.837
				Uneven Bars	WD		1st	19.912
				Balance Beam	1st	9.962	2nd	19.887
				Floor Exercise	7th	9.862	1st	19.912
1990	World Cup Final	Brussels		All-Around	2nd	39.586
				Vault	3rd	9.912	1st	9.937
				Uneven Bars	4th	9.887	6th	9.825
				Balance Beam	4th	9.887	2nd	9.887
				Floor Exercise	1st	9.962	1st	9.937
	European Championships	Athens		All-Around	1st	39.874
				Vault	1st	9.943	1st	10.000
				Uneven Bars	1st	9.950	1st	9.975
				Balance Beam	1st	10.000	2nd	9.962
				Floor Exercise	1st	10.000	1st	9.937
1989	World Championships	Stuttgart		Team	1st	396.793
				All-Around	1st	39.900		79.262
				Vault				19.925
				Uneven Bars	8th	9.450		19.925
				Balance Beam				19.425
				Floor Exercise	1st	10.000	1st	19.987
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona	CIS	Team	1st	395.666
				All-Around	5th	39.673	2nd	79.287
				Vault	4th	9.899	8th	19.800
				Uneven Bars			10th	19.787
				Balance Beam	5th	9.862	2nd	19.800
				Floor Exercise	WD		1st	19.900
	World Championships	Paris		Vault	2nd	9.943
				Vault (Semi−Final)			1st	9.912
				Vault (Qualification)			1st	9.900
				Balance Beam	6th	9.750
	European Championships	Nantes		All-Around	5th	39.136
				Vault	8th	9.675	2nd	9.937
				Uneven Bars	4th	9.850	2nd	9.937
				Balance Beam	1st	9.950	1st	9.937
				Floor Exercise			44th	9.325
1995	World Championships	Sabae	Belarus	Team	8th	375.512
				All-Around	16th	38.261	14th	76.461
				Vault			23rd	18.925
				Uneven Bars			29th	19.124
				Balance Beam			20th	18.975
				Floor Exercise			15th	19.437
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta		Team	6th	381.263
				All-Around	13th	38.499	25th	76.223
				Vault	5th	9.712	9th	19.474
				Uneven Bars			64th	18.587
				Balance Beam			27th	18.850
				Floor Exercise			24th	19.312
	European Championships	Birmingham		Team	4th	114.546
				All-Around	2nd	39.106	4th	38.898
				Vault	6th	9.662	5th	9.737
				Uneven Bars	6th	9.725	7th	9.737
				Balance Beam	4th	9.575	5th	9.662
				Floor Exercise	6th	9.600	3rd	9.762

See also

• List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists
• List of top medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

External links

• Svetlana Boginskaya - Bio and Competition Results at Gymn Forum
• Svetlana Boguinskaya at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Svetlana Boguinskaia at the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
• Svetlana Boguinskaia bio at CBS Sports at the Wayback Machine (archived April 15, 2003)
• Svetlana Boguinskaia at Olympics.com
• Sviatlana Bahinskaya at Olympedia
• Svetlana Boginskaya at the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus