Jump to content

Oksana Omelianchik

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oksana Omelianchik
Personal information
Full nameOksana Alexandrovna Omelianchik
Country represented Soviet Union
Born (1970-01-02) 2 January 1970 (age 54)
Ulan-Ude, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
(now Russia)
Height140 cm (4 ft 7 in)[1]
Weight31 kg (68 lb)[1]
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior international
Years on national team1983–89 (URS)
GymRound Lake national training center; Spartak Kiev
Head coach(es)Valentina Panchenko, Valery Tupitsy, Tatiana Perskaya
Music1987: Ballet Russe
Retired1989
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1985 Montreal Team
Gold medal – first place 1985 Montreal All-Around
Gold medal – first place 1985 Montreal Floor Exercise
Silver medal – second place 1987 Rotterdam Team
World Cup Final
Gold medal – first place 1986 Beijing Balance Beam
Silver medal – second place 1986 Beijing Vault
Silver medal – second place 1986 Beijing Uneven Bars
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Beijing All-Around
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Beijing Floor Exercise
Goodwill Games
Gold medal – first place 1986 Moscow Team
Silver medal – second place 1986 Moscow Floor Exercise
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Moscow All-Around
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1985 Helsinki Balance Beam
Silver medal – second place 1985 Helsinki Floor Exercise
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Helsinki All-Around
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Helsinki Uneven Bars

Oksana Omelianchik (Russian: Оксана Александровна Омельянчик; Ukrainian: Окса́на Oлекса́ндрiвна Омелья́нчик, romanizedOksana Oleksandrivna Omelianchyk; alternative transliterations: Oksana Omel'yantchik, Oksana Omeliantchik; born 2 January 1970) is a retired Soviet gymnast and the all-around gold medalist of the 1985 World Championships. Omelianchik was most known for her enthusiastic showmanship, difficulty and originality, including pioneering back-to-back tumbling.

Early life and career

[edit]

Omelianchik was born on 2 January 1970 in Ulan-Ude, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. She was originally a figure skater, and participated in her first skating meet at the age of 6. She began gymnastics on the recommendation of her skating choreographer, who believed she had potential in the sport.[1] She trained at the Spartak club in Kyiv, where her coaches included Valentina Panchenko, Valery Tupitsy and Tatiana Perskaya.[2][3][4]

By 1983, Omelianchik was competing internationally for the USSR. At that year's Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba), an important meet for junior gymnasts, she earned gold medals on the floor exercise and uneven bars and placed fourth in the all-around competition. At her first USSR Championships in 1983, she placed fifth in the all-around. The next year, she competed in both the junior and senior USSR Championships, winning the all-around silver medal at the former and finishing fourth at the latter, and was selected as the alternate for the Soviet team at the 1984 Friendship Games (also known as 'Olomouc', after the city in which the competition was held).[2]

Senior career

[edit]

In 1985, Omelianchik won the Soviet National Championships, beating the future Olympic champion Elena Shushunova. She also competed at the European Championships for the first time, winning the balance beam title showing a triple twist dismount. She also won a bronze medal in the all-around behind Shushunova and East German Maxi Gnauck, silver on the floor exercise, and bronze on the uneven bars.[2]

Omelianchik was a member of the gold-winning Soviet team at the 1985 World Gymnastics Championships in Montreal. She struggled in the team competition and did not qualify for the all-around final. However, Soviet team officials decided to pull Olga Mostepanova and Irina Baraksanova, who had both qualified for the finals, and substitute Omelianchik and her teammate Shushunova. The decision proved to be sound; the two Soviet gymnasts tied for the all-around gold and became Worlds co-champions. In the event finals, Omelianchik won the floor gold medal with her "Birdie" exercise, which would become her most well-known routine.[5][6]

Omelianchik continued to compete for the Soviet team after the World Championships, placing third in the all-around at the 1986 Goodwill Games and third all around at the World Cup in Beijing. She also won the balance beam title and placed second on uneven bars and vault and third on floor exercise. The following year at the World Championships the Soviet team lost the title to a dominant team from Romania. Omelianchik debuted her new vault which introduced the half-on technique in the roundoff family of vaults. She also showcased a new floor routine to Ballet Russe and a new triple full to a tuck front rebound, but suffered an uncharacteristic fall in the team competition. She placed fifth in the all-around and qualified only for the vault final; however, she was eventually withdrawn by team officials, with Svetlana Baitova competing in her place.[7]

Despite maintaining consistent results within the top the 7 in the USSR Cup and USSR Championships for years, Omelianchik was not selected for the 1988 Olympics. She was named as an alternate to the team and traveled with them to Seoul, but was not called upon to compete. Her final competition was the 1989 USSR Cup, where she placed 2nd in the all-around.[6]

Post-retirement

[edit]

Omelianchik remains heavily involved in gymnastics as a choreographer, coach and judge. She heads the women's technical committee for the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation and choreographs routines for many of Ukraine's top gymnastics, including Alina Kozich and Olha Rozshchupkina.[6][8]

In a poll in Inside Gymnastics magazine, she was chosen as one of the "Top Ten All-Around Gymnasts of All Time."[9]

Skills

[edit]

Omelianchik was noted for her innovative skills, clean execution and energetic, inspired presentation. Omelianchik was one of the pioneers of back-to-back tumbling on floor exercise, a series of skills in which a gymnast completes one full tumbling run from one end of the mat to the other, rebounds, and performs another complete tumbling run in the opposite direction without stopping.[6]

Eponymous skills

[edit]

Omelianchik has two eponymous skills listed in the Code of Points.[10]

Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a]
Vault Omelianchik Round-off flic-flac with ½ turn (180°) on - piked salto forward of 4.0
Balance Beam Omelianchik Flic-flac with ¾ turn (270°) to side handstand (hold 2 seconds) D
  1. ^ Valid for the 2022-2024 Code of Points

Achievements

[edit]
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
1983 Druzhba 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Ukrainian Spartakiade 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
USSR Championships 5 6
1984 Junior USSR Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Moscow News 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
USSR Championships 4 4 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
USSR Cup 7
1985
European Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Moscow News 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Rome Grand Prix 1st place, gold medalist(s)
USSR Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
USSR Cup 4
World Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
1986 Kraft International 12 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Sports Fair 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Goodwill Games 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
USSR Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4
USSR Cup 7 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
World Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
1987 USSR Championships 6 5 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
USSR Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
World Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5
1988 Kraft International 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
USA-USSR Dual Meet 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
USSR Championships 4 6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
USSR Cup 8
1989 USSR Championships 22 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Oksana and gymnastics" Valentina Pozhilova,Sport in the USSR, July 1986
  2. ^ a b c Biography and list of competitive results at Gymn-Forum Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Articles at Gymn-Forum
  4. ^ Tatiana Perskaya Profile at Make It Right Gymnastics
  5. ^ "They Gave It Their All" Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Yevgeny Lanfang, Moscow News No. 47, 1985
  6. ^ a b c d "Whatever happened to Oksana Omelianchik?" Archived October 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Gymnastics Greats, 2002
  7. ^ "Sprite Fight" Archived August 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Jill Smolowe, Time, September 19, 1988
  8. ^ "In Our Spotlight: Alina Kozich" Archived February 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine International Gymnast, June/July 2004
  9. ^ "Top 10 gymnasts of all time". Inside Gymnastics Archived March 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "2022-2024 Code of Points Women's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). International Gymnastics Federation. pp. 69, 136, 206, 210. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Gymn Forum: Oksana Omelianchik Biography".
[edit]