Tamara Vasilyevna Lazakovich (; 11 March 1954 – 1 November 1992) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

artistic gymnast who competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. Described as a "perky sparrow" with a "purity of line", Lazakovich was spotted by her compatriot, Olympic champion Larisa Petrik, in 1961 and brought to prominent coaches in the

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian system. She showed promise early on, winning several gold and silver medals at the 1968 and 1969 USSR Junior Championships. She debuted as a senior at the

1970 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 17th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Hala Tivoli, Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia, in 1970. Cathy Rigby won the first medal for the United States women at the World Championships with a silver on balance beam ...

. The Soviets won the gold medal in the team competition, but a low score of 8.00 on the balance beam during the compulsory round dropped Lazakovich to 21st place in the individual all-around, the lowest on the Soviet team. At the 1971 European Championships, Lazakovich tied her teammate

Ludmilla Tourischeva Ludmilla Ivanovna Tourischeva ( Russian: Людми́ла Ива́новна Тури́щева; also transliterated as Ludmilla Turischeva, Ludmilla Tourischcheva, and Ljudmila Turichtchieva, born 7 October 1952) is a former Russian gymnast, U ...

—a European, World, and Olympic all-around champion—for the all-around title. She also took two of the four individual event titles (uneven bars and balance beam) and won silver on the other two (vault and floor exercise). In addition to being co-champions in the all-around, she or Tourischeva occupied the gold and silver positions on the podium on all five individual events, keeping Erika Zuchold of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

in third place on four out of five of them. The next year, at the 1972 Olympics, where Tourischeva dominated the all-around and Soviet teammate

Olga Korbut Olga Valentinovna Korbut (born 16 May 1955) is a Belarusian retired gymnastics, gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Old World sparrow, Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olymp ...

stole the crowd's and media's attention with her daring moves and charismatic personality, Lazakovich quietly worked her way onto the individual podium three times, winning the bronze medal in the individual all-around and floor exercise, plus silver on the balance beam behind Korbut. Her four-event total of 38.25 was the highest of any gymnast in the team compulsories segment of the competition. Lazakovich retired after the Olympics and worked as a gymnastics coach in

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

. She struggled with

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

and was imprisoned for several years for larceny. She died at the age of 38 from alcohol-related illnesses.Спортивная гимнастика. Личности: биография, достижения, победы
. gymnast.ru

References

External links

* * * * * https://tamara-lazakovich.narod.ru/ (Russian language page dedicated to Lazakovich) * https://www.gymn-forum.net/bios/women/lazakovich.html * http://sport.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1253585,00.html * https://www.gymn-forum.net/Articles/Misc-Lazakovich.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazakovich, Tamara 1954 births 1992 deaths European champions in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic gymnasts for the Soviet Union Soviet female artistic gymnasts People from Kaliningrad Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Sportspeople convicted of crimes