Irina Viktorovna Tchachina (also transliterated Chashchina or Tchashchina, ; born 24 April 1982) is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in all-around, a two-time (2003, 2005)

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

all-around bronze medalist, the 2004 European all-around bronze medalist and 2000 Grand Prix Final all-around silver medalist.

Personal life

Tchachina was born to a Russian family as the eldest of three children. She has a younger brother and sister. In late 2011, Tchachina married Russian businessman Evgeny Arkhipov.

Skills in rhythmic gymnastics

Tchachina was a technical gymnast.

Competitive career

Tchachina began training at the age of six in her hometown of

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

(also the hometown of Galima Shugurova, Evgenia Kanaeva, Tatiana Druchinina, Ksenia Dudkina, Sofya Skomorokh). After she became impressed watching the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships on television, her grandfather, a devoted amateur sportsman, took her to a sports school. Her early days were filled with music lessons, swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. Faced with a choice at age 11, she chose gymnastics. She was coached by Vera Shtelbaums and her daughter Elena Arais since the age of five. Her favourite gymnasts are Olena Vitrychenko and Yanina Batyrchina. Tchachina's first victory was at age eight at the Omskaya oblast championship. By age 12 she was a member of Russia's national team and routinely travelled to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to take part in training camps. As a junior, she placed first at the CIS Spatakiada, and won the Russian women's championships twice in a row. In August 1999, Tchachina began training at the Olympic Preparatory School under the guidance of Irina Viner, and around the same time she won the World Championships in

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. In 2001, she won the gold in the hoop and silver in the individual all-around, ball, clubs and rope at the 2001 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in

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, but Tchachina and her teammate Alina Kabaeva tested positive for a banned

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics ...

and were stripped of their medals. Irina Viner, the Russian head coach, who also served as the Vice President of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee at the time, said her gymnasts had been taking a food supplement called "Hyper" containing mild diuretics, which, according to Viner, the gymnasts were taking for pre-menstrual syndrome. When the supply ran out shortly before the Goodwill Games, the team physiotherapist restocked at a local pharmacy. According to Viner, the supplement sold there was fake and contained furosemide. The commission requested the Goodwill Games organizing committee nullify Kabaeva and Tchachina's results. In 2003, Tchachina sustained an ankle injury, and dealt with it for two years. The same year she and Kabaeva made their return to competitive gymnastics following their ban. Tchachina won the all-around bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships, silver in clubs and bronze in hoop event finals. In 2004, Tchachina won the all-around bronze medal at the 2004 European Championships behind Ukraine's Anna Bessonova. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Tchachina won the silver medal in the all-around competition, scoring 107.325 points (Hoop 27.100, Ball 27.100, Clubs 26.825, Ribbon 26.300) – her teammate Alina Kabaeva took the gold with a score of 108.400. After the Olympic season, Tchachina experienced a recurring ankle injury. Although no longer in top form, she was still able to win the bronze medal in all-around at the 2005 World Championships and a pair of bronze medals in clubs and rope finals. She retired from rhythmic gymnastics in early 2006.

Later career

After her retirement, Tchachina was invited to the Russian television project "Dances on Ice", partnering with Olympic bronze medalist ice dancer Ruslan Goncharov. She also appeared on the project "Circus with stars" along with other athletes, including Svetlana Khorkina. Tchachina then starred as the lead heroine in the Russian film "The Way" (2009 film) with Artem Mikhalkov. Tchachina wrote an autobiography titled ''Irina Tchachina: Being Yourself''. On 4 December 2012, at the conference of the Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics in Novogorsk, Tchachina was elected vice-president of The Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation (RRGF) along with 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion Evgenia Kanaeva. Tchachina was recommended by Irina Viner for the position of President of the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation (RRGF) but she declined. In May 2013, Tchachina opened up her rhythmic gymnastics school named after her in Barnaul, Altai Krai. The opening ceremony was attended by other rhythmic gymnasts Liubov Charkashyna, Natalia Godunko and Olga Kapranova. On 15 February 2015, a star-studded gala was held in Russia for the 80th founding anniversary of

Rhythmic Gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

. The venue was held in the historical Mariinsky Theatre in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Among those who performed at the gala were Russian former Olympic champions, Olympic medalists and World champions including: Tchachina, Evgenia Kanaeva, Yulia Barsukova, Daria Dmitrieva, and Yana Batyrshina.

Routine music information

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" ! scope=col , Year ! scope=col , Apparatus ! scope=col , Music title , - ! scope=row rowspan=6 , 2005 , Ball , Exercises in Free Love from The Freddie Mercury Album by

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

and Nostalgia by Yanni , - , Rope (second) , Bora Bora, Bora Bora (Bollywood Cafe Mix) by Arash , - , Rope (first) , Rise by Safri Duo , - , Clubs , Chateau / Teahouse from The Matrix Reloaded by Rob D / Don Davis , - , Ribbon (second) , Microneseren by Bobby Hughes Combination , - , Ribbon (first) , Ulichnie strasti by Didulya , - ! scope=row rowspan=4 , 2004 , Hoop , Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt , - , Ball , Harem by Sarah Brightman , - , Clubs , Laissez moi me griser by Maurice El Medioni , - , Ribbon , Malagueña Salerosa ( Remix ) , - ! scope=row rowspan=5 , 2003 , Hoop , Melagholia Mou by Giorgos Alkaios , - , Ball , Mystic Moon by Bowfire , - , Clubs , The Mall Chase / The Army Arrives from Evolution by John Powell , - , Ribbon (second) , Dai mi go dai by Azis , - , Ribbon (first) , Gypsy Potion by Guido Luciani , - ! scope=row rowspan=4 , 2002 , Hoop , Iridian / Big Drum Small World by Dhol Foundation , - , Rope , Heat of the Day by

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

, - , Clubs , The Mall Chase / The Army Arrives from Evolution by John Powell , - , Ball , Mystic Moon by Bowfire , - ! scope=row rowspan=4 , 2001 , Hoop , Supersonic (Brainbug Remix) by Music Instructor , - , Rope , Jumpin' Jack by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy , - , Clubs , Gypsy Potion by Guido Luciani , - , Ball , Prologue, Marco Polo by Loreena McKennitt , - ! scope=row rowspan=4 , 2000 , Hoop , Walpurgis Night (Danse de Phryne) from Faust by

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

, - , Rope , Danza de la molinera from El sombrero de tres picos by Manuel de Falla , - , Ball , Caravan , - , Ribbon , Bésame Mucho by Consuelo Velazques , - ! scope=row rowspan=4 , 1999 , Hoop , Main Theme from The Saint by Graeme Revell , - , Rope , ? , - , Ball , Caravan , - , Ribbon , Andaluza by Granados , - ! scope=row rowspan=4 , 1998 , Hoop , Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach , - , Clubs ,

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

by Aram Khatchaturian , - , Rope , ? , - , Ribbon , Espana Cani by Narro Pascual Marquina , - ! scope=row rowspan=4 , 1997 , Hoop , ? , - , Clubs ,

by Aram Khatchaturian , - , Rope , Hanky Panky by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, - , Ribbon , Espana Cani by Narro Pascual Marquina

Detailed Olympic results

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! Year ! Competition Description ! Location ! Music ! Apparatus ! Score-Final ! Score-Qualifying , - , rowspan="5" , 2004 , rowspan="5" , Olympics , rowspan="5" , Athens , , All-around , bgcolor="silver" , 107.325 , 105.675 , - , Malagueña Salerosa ( Remix ) , Ribbon , 26.300 , 26.725 , - , Harem by Sarah Brightman , Ball , 27.100 , 26.700 , - , Pirates of the Caribbean by Klaus Badelt , Hoop , 27.100 , 26.450 , - , Laissez moi me griser by Maurice El Medioni , Clubs , 26.825 , 25.800

References

External links

*
Irina Tchachina
at r-gymnastics.com * * *
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tchachina, Irina 1982 births Living people Russian rhythmic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for Russia Olympic silver medalists for Russia Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Doping cases in gymnastics Russian sportspeople in doping cases Gymnasts from Omsk Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships World Games gold medalists for Russia World Games medalists in gymnastics Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia FISU World University Games silver medalists for Russia FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 2001 World Games 21st-century Russian sportswomen