Elena SHUSHUNOVA

Yelena Shushunova and Lyudmila Turishcheva are the only two female gymnasts who have won the grand slam of all-around titles – Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup and European Championships. Shushunova took up gymnastics at the age of six and made the Soviet national team in 1984, just in time for the 1984 Olympics. But as the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Olympics, it denied Shushunova her first Olympic medals. Instead Shushunova competed at the Friendship Games, where she won gold in the team event and bronze in individual all-around. But in 1985 Shushunova established herself as one of the top gymnasts of the era, by winning three golds (individual all-around, vault and team event), floor exercise silver and balance beam bronze at the 1985 World Championships and four golds (individual all-around, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise) and balance beam bronze at the 1985 European Championships. In 1986, Shushunova won the individual all-around, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise at the World Cup. At the 1987 World Championships she won the vault and floor exercise titles, individual all-around, balance beam and team event silvers and uneven bars bronze, but was not as successful at the 1987 European Championships, winning only the vault title and individual all-around bronze. And finally in 1988, Shushunova got the chance to compete at the Olympics, winning the individual all-around and team event titles, silver on balance beam and bronze on uneven bars, retiring after Seoul. From the middle of 1990s, Shushunova has worked for St. Petersburg sport's committee and has organized almost all the top gymnastics events of this town, including the gymnastics events at the 1994 Goodwill Games and the 1998 European Championships, both of which were held in St. Petersburg.