Natalia Kalinina

Natalia Grigoriyevna Kalinina (Russian: Наталья Григорьевна Калинина [kɐˈlʲinʲɪnə], Ukrainian: Наталія Григорівна Калініна; born 16 December 1973, in Kherson, Ukraine), is a former artistic gymnast that competed for the Soviet Union and Ukraine. She was a member of the last Soviet world championship team to win a gold medal in 1991. She was the 1990 European champion on the uneven bars. At the 1990 Goodwill Games, she won a medal on every event with 4 golds and 2 silvers, including the all-around gold medal. She was not selected to compete for the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. She believes that politics would only allow three gymnasts to come from one republic, and there were already three gymnasts from Ukraine selected.[1]

Natalia Kalinina
Full nameNatalia Grigoriyevna Kalinina
Alternative name(s)Natasha
Country represented Ukraine
Former countries represented Soviet Union
 CIS
Born (1973-12-16) December 16, 1973
Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
ResidenceSan Mateo, California
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
Years on national team1987-1992 (USSR)
1993-1995 (UKR)
ClubDynamo Kherson
Head coach(es)Oleg and Nadezhda Ostapenko
Former coach(es)Viktor Petrushkin and Valentina Batischeva
Retired1995
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Championships 1 0 0
European Championships 1 2 1
Goodwill Games 4 2 0
Summer Universiade 3 0 1
Total 9 4 2
Representing  Soviet Union
World Championships
1991 IndianapolisTeam
European Championships
1990 AthensUneven Bars
1990 AthensAll-Around
1990 AthensBalance Beam
Goodwill Games
1990 SeattleTeam
1990 SeattleAll-Around
1990 SeattleBalance Beam
1990 SeattleFloor Exercise
1990 SeattleVault
1990 SeattleUneven Bars
Representing  Ukraine
European Championships
1994 StockholmTeam
Summer Universiade
1993 BuffaloTeam
1993 BuffaloVault
1993 BuffaloBalance Beam
1995 FukuokaFloor Exercise

Early life

Natalia Grigoriyevna Kalinina was born in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on December 16, 1973. Her parents are Georgiy Kalinin and Antonina Kalinina. She has a sister named Svetlana. She began gymnastics in 1979.[2]

Career

1988-1989

Kalinina's international debut was at the 1988 Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba) where she won gold with her team and finished fifth in the all-around. Later that year she competed in the Junior GDR-USSR Dual Meet, and she won medals in every event, four gold and two silver.[3]

In 1989, Kalinina won a silver medal in the all-around at the Chunichi Cup behind teammate Natalia Laschenova.[4] At the DTB Cup, she finished ninth in the all-around, but finished fifth on vault and won silver on the uneven bars.[5] Kalinina then competed at the Tokyo Cup, where she won gold on the uneven bars.[6] She finished seventh in the all-around at the USSR National Championships,[7] and she finished third in the all-around and second on bars at the USSR Cup.[8]

1990

Kalinina's first competition in 1990 was the American Cup, and she finished second in the all-around behind American Kim Zmeskal. She finished in first on the vault, beam, and floor exercise.[9] She then went on to compete at the 1990 European Championships, where she won silver in the all-around behind teammate Svetlana Boginskaya.[10] In the event finals, she finished fourth on vault, won silver on balance beam, and gold on uneven bars.[11] Then Kalinina went on to compete at the 1990 Goodwill Games, and this turned out to be her international breakthrough. Kalinina won a medal in all six events. The Soviet Team won team gold,[12] and Kalinina won the all-around gold medal with a total of 39.836 and a perfect 10 on floor.[13] In the event finals, she won gold on beam and floor, and she won silver on vault and bars.[14] She teamed up with Alexander Kolyvanov for the International Mixed Pairs Competition, where they finished in fourteenth.[15] At the USSR Championships, Kalinina finished second in the all-around behind Elena Sazonenkova.[16] She finished fifth in the all-around at the USSR Cup, but she won bronze medals on bars, beam, and floor.[17] Kalinina finished the season by winning gold on the uneven bars at the Moscow News event.[18]

1991

Kalinina's first competition of the year was the Blume Memorial, where she finished sixth in the all-around.[19] She then competed at the World Stars event. She finished second in the all-around behind teammate Tatiana Gutsu, and she won gold in the balance beam final with a 9.925.[20] At the USSR Championships, she finished third in the all-around behind Tatiana Gutsu and Tatiana Lysenko. In the event finals, she finished seventh on vault, fourth on beam, and won gold on bars with a 9.987.[21] At the ITA-USSR Dual Meet, she finished sixth in the all-around and won gold with the team.[22] She was then selected for what would be the last Soviet World Championship team. The Soviet team won the gold medal by almost two points. [23][24] Kalinina was fourteenth in the all-around in the prelims, but she did not qualify for the final due to three of her teammates placing ahead of her.[25]

1992

At the CIS Championships, Kalinina placed fifth in the all-around.[3] However, she was not named to compete for the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. She has stated that she believes that politics would not allow more than three gymnasts from one republic.[1] Tatiana Gutsu, Tatiana Lysenko, and team alternate Ludmilla Stovbchataya were already on the roster for Ukraine. She then competed at the World Stars event, where she finished third in the all-around behind Gutsu and Lysenko.[26]

1993-1995

Kalinina began attending college in Kiev, but she continued to compete.[1] She finished fourth in the all-around at the 1993 Chunichi Cup.[27] Later that year at the Tokyo Cup, she finished sixth on bars and seventh on floor.[28] Kalinina then competed at the 1993 Summer Universiade, and the Ukrainian team won gold,[29] and Kalinina finished sixth in the all-around.[30] In the event finals, she won gold on vault and beam.

Kalinina competed at the 1994 European Championships, and she finished eighth in the all-around.[31] She was the 1994 Ukrainian all-round champion. Her last competition before retirement was the 1995 Summer Universiade. She finished fourth in the all-around,[32] and won bronze on floor.

After gymnastics

After graduating from college, Kalinina moved to Moscow, where she joined the circus. She married fellow performer Mikhail Tsitsilin, and they relocated to his hometown, Voronezh, where they began coaching gymnastics. They moved to the United States in 2000.[33] She coached gymnastics at the Peninsula Gymnastics club in San Mateo, California until 2009, and now works at Gold Star Gymnastics in Mountain View, California.[34] She now goes by Natasha, the informal name of Natalia in Russian.[35]

Competitive history
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
1988Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba)1st5th
GDR-USSR Dual Meet1st1st2nd2nd1st1st
1989Chunichi Cup2nd
DTB Cup9th5th2nd
Tokyo Cup1st
USSR Championships7th
USSR Cup3rd2nd
1990American Cup2nd1st1st1st
European Championships2nd4th1st2nd
Goodwill Games1st1st2nd2nd1st1st
International Mixed Pairs14th
USSR Championships2nd
USSR Cup5th3rd3rd3rd
Moscow News1st
1991Blume Memorial6th
World Stars2nd1st
USSR Championships3rd7th1st4th
USSR-ITA Dual Meet1st6th
World Championships1st
1992CIS Championships5th
World Stars3rd
1993Chunichi Cup4th
Tokyo Cup6th7th
Summer Universiade1st6th1st1st
1994European Championships8th
Ukrainian Championships1st
1995Summer Universiade4th3rd

References
  1. "Natalia Kalinina". 4.4 Million Days. 4.4 Million Days, Inc. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  2. "Natalia Kalinina Gymnastics Bio". The Official Website of Natalia Kalinina. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  3. "Natalia Kalinina (USSR/UKR)". Gymn Forum. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  4. "1989 Chunichi Cup Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 4 October 1997. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  5. "1989 DTB Cup Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 18 January 1998. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  6. "1989 Tokyo Cup Women's EF". Gymn Forum. 8 May 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  7. "1989 USSR National Championships Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 11 December 1998. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  8. "1989 USSR Cup". Gymn Forum. 8 May 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  9. "1990 McDonald's American Cup" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. USA Gymnastics. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  10. "1990 European Championships Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 24 October 1997. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  11. "1990 European Championships Women's EF". Gymn Forum. 21 November 1997. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  12. Harvey, Randy (28 July 1990). "GOODWILL GAMES : U.S. Women Break Through, Give Soviets a Scare in Gymnastics". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  13. "1990 Goodwill Games Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 17 January 1998. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  14. "1990 Goodwill Games Women's EF". Gymn Forum. 17 January 1998. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  15. "1990 Mixed Pairs". Gymn Forum. 5 May 2001. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  16. "1990 USSR Championships Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 11 December 1998. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  17. "1990 USSR Cup". Gymn Forum. 11 March 2001. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  18. "1990 Moscow News". Gymn Forum. 9 November 2000. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  19. "1991 Blume Memorial Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 2 March 1999. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  20. "1991 World Stars". Gymn Forum. 10 November 2000. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  21. "1991 USSR Spartakiade/USSR Championships". Gymn Forum. 11 December 1998. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  22. "1991 ITA-USSR Dual Meet". Gymn Forum. 17 December 1999. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  23. Glauber, Bill (12 September 1991). "U.S. teen effort yields women's silver medal Zmeskal scores 10 in world gymnastics". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  24. "1991 World Championships Women's Team Results by Gymnast URS/USA/ROM/CHN". Gymn Forum. 12 February 2004. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  25. "Natalia Kalinina Results". The Official Website of Natalia Kalinina. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  26. "1992 World Stars". Gymn Forum. 1 December 1998. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  27. "1993 Chunichi Cup Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 4 October 1997. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  28. "1993 Tokyo Cup Women's EF". Gymn Forum. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  29. "1993 University Games Women's Team Finals". Gymn Forum. 13 January 2001. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  30. "1993 University Games Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 25 April 1995. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  31. "1994 European Championships Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 21 November 1997. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  32. "1995 University Games Women's AA". Gymn Forum. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  33. "Natalia KALININA". Artistic Gymnastics - Biography. International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  34. "Natalia Kalinina Coaching". The Official Website of Natalia Kalinina. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  35. "Gold Star Gymnastics - Staff - Natasha". Gold Star Gymnastics. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
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