Yelena Shushunova facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yelena Shushunova
Shushunova in 1987
Personal information
Full name	Yelena Lvovna Shushunova
Alternative name(s)	Elena Shushunova
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1969-05-23)23 May 1969 Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	16 August 2018(2018-08-16) (aged 49) Saint Petersburg, Russia
Height	1.47 m (4 ft 10 in)
Weight	41 kg (90 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	1981–88 (URS)
Club	SKA St. Petersburg
Music	Two Guitars - Russian Gypsy Music
Retired	25 September 1988
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games Gold 1988 Seoul Team Gold 1988 Seoul All-around Silver 1988 Seoul Balance beam Bronze 1988 Seoul Uneven bars World Championships Gold 1985 Montreal Team Gold 1985 Montreal All-around Gold 1985 Montreal Vault Gold 1987 Rotterdam Vault Gold 1987 Rotterdam Floor exercise Silver 1985 Montreal Floor exercise Silver 1987 Rotterdam Team Silver 1987 Rotterdam All-around Silver 1987 Rotterdam Balance beam Bronze 1985 Montreal Balance beam Bronze 1987 Rotterdam Uneven bars World Cup Final Gold 1986 Beijing All-around Gold 1986 Beijing Vault Gold 1986 Beijing Uneven bars Gold 1986 Beijing Floor exercise Bronze 1986 Beijing Balance beam Goodwill Games Gold 1986 Moscow Team Gold 1986 Moscow Vault Gold 1986 Moscow Uneven Bars Gold 1986 Moscow Floor Exercise Silver 1986 Moscow All-Around Silver 1986 Moscow Balance Beam European Championships Gold 1985 Helsinki All-around Gold 1985 Helsinki Vault Gold 1985 Helsinki Uneven bars Gold 1985 Helsinki Floor exercise Gold 1987 Moscow Vault Bronze 1985 Helsinki Balance beam Bronze 1987 Moscow All-around Friendship Games Gold 1984 Olomouc Team Bronze 1984 Olomouc All-around

Yelena Lvovna Shushunova (Russian: Елена Львовна Шушунова; sometimes called Elena Shushunova) was a famous Soviet gymnast. She was born on May 23, 1969, and passed away on August 16, 2018. Yelena was one of only five women in history to win the all-around title at the Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships. She was also one of ten women to win a medal on every event at the World Championships.

Yelena was known for creating new, difficult moves in gymnastics. She was also famous for her powerful and exciting tumbling, and for being very consistent in her performances.

Yelena's Early Gymnastics Career

Yelena Shushunova was born and grew up in Leningrad, a city in Russia. She started gymnastics when she was about six or seven years old. She began competing as a junior gymnast in 1981.

In 1982, she won gold medals at two big junior competitions: the Moscow News (now called Moscow Stars of the World) and the Junior European Championships. The next year, in 1983, she won the USSR Cup. She continued to win this competition every year until 1988, except for 1984.

Yelena's Senior Gymnastics Career

Yelena joined the main Soviet national gymnastics team in 1984. However, she could not compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics because the Soviet Union decided not to send its athletes. Instead, she competed at the 1984 Friendship Games in Olomouc, where she finished third in the all-around. She also helped her team win a gold medal.

The next year, 1985, was a big year for Yelena. She won the all-around title at the European Championships. She also won three gold medals in the individual events: vault, floor exercise, and uneven bars. At the World Championships that year, she won five medals. This included the all-around title, which she shared with her teammate Oksana Omelianchik. She also won gold on vault, silver on floor, and bronze on balance beam. On floor, she performed very difficult moves like a double layout and a side Arabian 1 and 3/4 salto. She also showed her special move, a straddle jump to prone support, which was very new and creative for gymnasts in the 1980s.

Yelena continued to be a top gymnast in 1986. At the World Cup in Beijing, she won the all-around title, plus gold medals on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise. She showed even harder moves, like a Rulfova flic on balance beam and a tucked full-in double salto dismount on uneven bars. At the 1986 Goodwill Games, her team won gold. Yelena finished second in the all-around after falling twice. But she came back strong in the individual events, winning gold on vault, bars, and floor, and silver on beam.

In 1987, Yelena lost the European title to Daniela Silivaș from Romania because she fell on a difficult dismount from the uneven bars. She still won a bronze medal in the all-around and a gold on vault at the European Championships. She kept adding more difficult moves to her routines, like a double layout dismount on uneven bars and a layout Thomas salto on floor. Later that year, her team finished second to Romania at the World Championships. Yelena also finished second in the all-around to Aurelia Dobre from Romania. In the individual events, she won gold on vault, silver on balance beam, and bronze on uneven bars. She also tied for gold on floor exercise with Daniela Silivaș.

Yelena at the 1988 Olympics

In 1988, Yelena Shushunova competed in the Summer Olympics in Seoul. She had an amazing performance, scoring three perfect 10s in her optional routines. She won two gold medals: one for the individual all-around and one for the team event. She also won a silver medal on balance beam and a bronze medal on uneven bars. Yelena did not win medals on vault or floor exercise at these Olympics.

After Her Gymnastics Career

Yelena Shushunova stopped competing in gymnastics two months after the 1988 Olympics. She went back to her hometown of Saint Petersburg and worked for the city's sports committee. She helped organize gymnastics events for the 1994 Goodwill Games and the 1998 European Championships, which were both held in Saint Petersburg.

In 2004, Yelena was honored by being added to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. The next year, she was also inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Gymnastics Moves Named After Yelena

Some gymnastics moves are so unique and difficult that they are named after the gymnasts who first performed them. Yelena Shushunova has two such moves named after her:

Yelena's Passing

Yelena Shushunova died on August 16, 2018, at the age of 49. She passed away due to problems from pneumonia, a lung infection.

Yelena's Competition Results

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
Junior Competitions
1980	Junior USSR Championships
	Junior USSR Cup		6
1981	Kosice International		6	5
	Riga International		4
	Ostrava International
1982	Junior European Championships		15
	Moscow News
Senior Competitions
1983	Chunichi Cup
	East Bloc Spartikade
	Tokyo Cup
	USSR Championships					4
	USSR Cup
	USSR Spartikade
1984	Chunichi Cup
	Moscow News
	Tokyo Cup
	USSR Junior Championships
	USSR Championships			6
	USSR Cup
	Olomouc Alternate Games						8
1985
	Helsinki European Championships
	Moscow News
	USSR Championships
	USSR Cup
	Montreal World Championships
1986	Moscow Goodwill Games
	USSR Cup
	Beijing World Cup Final
1987
	Moscow European Championships					4
	Zagreb Summer Universiade
	USSR Championships
	USSR Cup
	Rotterdam World Championships
1988	French International
	Moscow News						6
	USSR Championships
	USSR Cup
	Seoul Olympic Games			8			7
1991	World Professional Championships

Images for kids

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  Olympic Rings, representing Yelena's Olympic achievements.