Tatiana Grigorieva

Tatiana Vladimirovna Grigorieva (Russian: Татьяна Владимировна Григорьева; born 8 October 1975 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a retired Australian pole vaulter. She retired from the sport in 2007[1] after a 10-year career that saw her win Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championship medals. She went on to star in series six of Dancing with the Stars[2] and as Olympia on the 2008 revival of Gladiators.[3]

Tatiana Grigorieva
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Australia
Olympic Games
2000 SydneyPole vault
World Championships
1999 Seville Pole vault
Goodwill Games
1998 New York CityPole vault
Commonwealth Games
2002 ManchesterPole vault
2006 MelbournePole vault

Biography

As a former national level hurdler in Russia, Grigorieva took up pole vaulting when she migrated to Australia in 1997. Within 12 months of picking up a pole, she became one of the world's best, placing third in the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York. In her first appearance at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics, she won the bronze medal.

But it was at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney when she stepped into the spotlight and became a household name. On a night when Cathy Freeman won gold, the Australian home audience had a real bonus in seeing Grigorieva jump a personal best and win silver. The ensuing fame saw Grigorieva take up a number of off-field commitments whilst still continuing to train and compete.

At the 2001 World Championships in Canada, competing against the odds due to an injury restricted campaign, Grigorieva equalled her personal best to claim fourth. In the final competition of the season, as she had done in the Olympics, she edged very close to the world record with a clearance of 4.56 m (a personal best jump) in Yokohama.

At her first Commonwealth Games in 2002, she went into the competition as the overwhelming favourite with enormous pressure on her. Grigorieva's goal was to win gold and set a new games record – she achieved both.

In 2003 and 2004, despite maintaining a high standard and a place amongst the world's best, injury, illness and the emotional strain of her marriage breakup, resulted in her missing opportunities to represent Australia in the World Championships and Olympics. In 2005, Grigorieva put all that behind her, changing her training regime, place of residence and focus in life. She had a successful season, making the finals of the World Championships and winning the Osaka Grand Prix to retain her Japanese record set in 2001.

In 2006 Grigorieva's focus was defending her title at the Commonwealth Games in front of her home crowd. The untimely, mysterious loss of her vaulting poles and a nagging hamstring injury days before the event saw her competing at a slight disadvantage. However, she walked away with a silver medal in a performance that was close to her very best. 2006 was clearly her best ever international season where she jumped over 4.5 m six times and recorded two new personal best heights within days of each other and regained a place in the top five.

Since 2000 Grigorieva has appeared in numerous television programs and ad campaigns and magazines and on a number of magazines covers including from Inside Sport and Black+White to GQ in Italy and Esquire in the UK.

Her practical experience and desire to help others is now backed by her continuing studies towards a Health Science degree at the Australian College of Natural Medicine. She also had completed qualifications in Reiki, Pilates and Yoga.

In November 2007, Grigorieva and her partner Plamen Milanov opened the "Caffe e Gelato Milany" on Racecourse Road in the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton.[4]

In December 2008 Grigorieva was named international spokesperson for the fruit bar CheekyChewz manufactured by the Australian company Australian Food Innovators. Her first project has been arranging an initiative that will see 50 cents from every bar sold through Variety's website donated to that organisation.[5]

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
1998 Goodwill Games New York City 2nd Pole vault
1998 Australian Championships 2nd Pole vault
1999 Australian Championships 3rd 100 m
1999 Australian Championships 1st Pole vault
1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 9th Pole vault
1999 World Championships Seville 3rd Pole vault
2000 Australian Championships 2nd Pole vault
2000 Olympic Games Sydney 2nd Pole vault
2001 Australian Championships 1st Pole vault
2001 Goodwill Games Brisbane 3rd Pole vault
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Alberta 4th Pole vault
2002 Australian Championships 1st Pole vault
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, England 1st Pole vault
2003 Australian Championships 2nd Pole vault
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne 2nd Pole Vault

References
  1. Pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva set to retire
  2. Tatiana Grigorieva Archived 31 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Anthony Koutoufides and Tatiana Grigorieva join
  4. "Tatiana the ice-cream queen". News Corp Australia. 8 November 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  5. "Tatiana Provides New Funds To Variety, The Children's Charity". Cheeky Chewz (Media release). December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
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