Lilia Podkopayeva
Ukrainian gymnast, 1996 Olympic all-around and floor champion.
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Lilia Oleksandrivna Podkopayeva (born 15 August 1978) is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast. She is the 1995 world all-around champion, and the 1996 Olympic all-around and floor exercise champion.
Background
Podkopayeva won her only National All Around Title in Ukraine in March 1993. At the 1995 World Championships in Sabae, Japan, she won the all-around final with a score of 39.248, and in event finals placed first on vault (9.781), second on uneven bars (9.837), second on balance beam (9.837), and seventh on floor (9.087). In early 1996, she was seriously injured when she fell from the beam in practice, fracturing two ribs. At the 1996 European Championships, she helped Ukraine place third and won the individual all-around.
At the 1996 Olympics, she won the all-around final with a score of 39.255, placed second on balance beam (9.825), and first on floor (9.887). She was the fourth gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title as the reigning world champion, and the first gymnast to win the all-around without winning a team medal. She was also the last female gymnast to win the all-around title and an event-final gold medal until Simone Biles did this in 2016.
Frequently Asked Questions
What major titles did Lilia Podkopayeva win?
She captured the world all-around championship in 1995 and then added the Olympic all-around and floor exercise gold medals in 1996. Those combined titles made her one of the most decorated gymnasts of that generation.
What is Lilia Podkopayeva's nationality and competitive field?
She is Ukrainian and competed in artistic gymnastics. She represented Ukraine at the highest level, including the 1996 Olympic Games.
Ranked in
More in Olympic Champions
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Lilia Podkopayeva (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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