Lilia Oleksandrivna Podkopayeva ( uk, Лілія Олександрівна Подкопаєва; born August 15, 1978) is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

former

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 is the 1995 world all-around champion, and the 1996 Olympic all-around and

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

champion. Often thought of as a complete athlete, Podkopayeva was known for combining power, style, and balletic grace.

Gymnastics career

1993–95

In March 1993, Lilia won her only National All Around Title in Ukraine. In April 1993, Podkopayeva competed at the

World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for artistic gymnastics governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). The first edition of the championships was held in 1903, exclusively for male gymna ...

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. She qualified for the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

final, but crashed on her first attempt and finished last with a score of 8.893. At the 1994 World Championships in

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, she placed sixth in the all-around with a score of 38.942. In event finals, she placed eighth on vault, scoring 9.424; fifth on uneven bars, scoring 9.350; and second on

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

, scoring 9.737. In November 1994, at the World Team Championships in

Dortmund, Germany Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, she contributed an all-around score of 38.099 toward the Ukrainian team's fifth-place finish. The following year, Podkopayeva competed at the 1995 World Championships in Sabae, Japan. She helped Ukraine place fifth and qualify a full team to the 1996 Olympics. Podkopayeva then won the all-around final with a score of 39.248. In event finals, she placed first on vault (9.781), second on uneven bars (9.837), second on balance beam (9.837), and seventh on floor (9.087).

1996

At the beginning of the year, Podkopayeva was seriously injured when she fell from the beam in practice, fracturing two ribs. However, in May, she competed at the European Championships in Birmingham, where she helped the Ukrainian team place third and won the individual all-around with a score of 39.205. In event finals, she placed third on balance beam (9.756), first on uneven bars (9.825), and first on floor (9.862).

Atlanta Olympics

In July, Podkopayeva competed at 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, ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

. In the team final, she contributed a combined compulsory and optional score of 78.061 toward the Ukrainian team's fifth-place finish. She then won the all-around final with a score of 39.255. In event finals, she placed fifth on uneven bars (9.787), second on

(9.825), and first on

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...

(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 Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...

did this in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

1997

Podkopayeva originally intended to continue competing after the 1996 Olympics, and she was named to the Ukrainian team for the 1997 World Championships. However, injuries forced her to sit out the competition and, later, to retire.

Eponymous skills

Podkopayeva has two eponymous skills listed in the Code of Points.

Post-retirement

In 2002, Podkopayeva started the Golden Lilia International Sports Festival, an exhibition featuring artistic and rhythmic gymnasts, acrobats, and dancers. She said, "It's important to us to show outstanding people and brightest talent so that the next generation can follow the best of the best." In December 2004, she married a Ukrainian businessman Tymofiy Nahornyi. They have two children: Vadym, adopted in Ukraine in July 2006, and Karolina, born in November 2006. The couple divorced in 2009. In 2005, Podkopayeva became a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

goodwill ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

in Ukraine. She is also an Ambassador of the Council of Europe for Sport, Tolerance, and Fair Play. In 2007, she won Ukraine's ''Dancing With the Stars'' with partner Sergiy Kostetskyi. The next year, she represented Ukraine in the

Eurovision Dance Contest The Eurovision Dance Contest was an international ballroom dancing competition that was held for the first time in the United Kingdom on Saturday 1 September 2007. The contest was similar in format to the long-running Eurovision Song Contest and ...

. Along with partner Kyrylo Khytrov, she placed third in the competition. In 2014, Podkopayeva did a gala event in Mexico, using similar choreography to the floor routine she performed in Atlanta, as well as doing back handsprings and round-offs. In 2019, Podkopayeva joined the coaching staff at Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta's Perimeter Gymnastics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Podkopayeva, Lilia 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Donetsk Serhiy Bubka College of Olympic Reserve alumni Ukrainian female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Ukraine Olympic silver medalists for Ukraine Olympic medalists in gymnastics World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Recipients of the Order of Princess Olga Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Olympic gymnasts of Ukraine Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games European champions in gymnastics Recipients of the Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine