Tatiana Lysenko


Tatiana Felixivna Lysenko is a Soviet and Ukrainian former gymnast, who had her senior competitive career from 1990 to 1994. Lysenko was a member of the Soviet Union team during the early 1990s, a period when its pool of talent was deep.

Gymnastics career

Lysenko was born in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, and has a Ukrainian-Jewish background. She took up gymnastics at the age of seven, and made her senior debut in 1990, winning the all-around competition at the World Cup. Next year she was selected for the world championships in Indianapolis, where she won the team competition. She qualified to the all-around competition, ahead of her talented teammates Oksana Chusovitina, Rozalia Galiyeva and Natalia Kalinina, but fell from beam and did not win any individual medal.
Lysenko's most notable achievements came at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She represented the Unified Team along with Svetlana Boguinskaya, Tatiana Gutsu, Elena Grudneva, Rozalia Galiyeva and Oksana Chusovitina. They won the team title by a comfortable margin. Lysenko finished 7th all-around, but she won the bronze medal in the vault after performing the most difficult vault in the entire competition, a double-twisting Yurchenko. Lysenko then won the gold in the beam event.
Unlike many of her Soviet teammates, Lysenko opted to continue after the breakup of the USSR, and represented her native Ukraine at the 1993 World Championships in Birmingham. She won bronze in the all-around, which would have been gold had she not stepped out of the floor. Lysenko was one of only two ex-Soviets on the podium along with Oksana Chusovitina.
Lysenko continued to compete internationally in 1994. She placed 18th in the all-around at the World Championships in Brisbane. In the event finals, she placed fourth on vault. She retired after the World Championships.

Later life

After retiring from competitions Lysenko moved to the United States and now lives in California. She graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law and was admitted the California State Bar in 2005. In 2002, she was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2016 into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She is married and has a daughter.

Competitive history

YearCompetition DescriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1994World ChampionshipsBrisbaneAll-Around1837.862
1994World ChampionshipsBrisbaneVault49.73799.631
1994World ChampionshipsBrisbaneFloor Exercise119.575
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamAll-Around339.0111138.105
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamVault219.581
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamUneven Bars59.50089.637
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamBalance Beam239.337
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamFloor Exercise129.550

YearCompetition DescriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaTeam1395.666
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaAll-Around739.537579.122
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaVault39.912519.824
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaUneven Bars1319.774
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaBalance Beam19.975319.787
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaFloor Exercise1219.737
1992World ChampionshipsParisVault 69.862
1992World ChampionshipsParisUneven Bars98.775
1992World ChampionshipsParisUneven Bars 39.862
1992World ChampionshipsParisUneven Bars 69.875
1992World ChampionshipsParisBalance Beam79.362
1992World ChampionshipsParisBalance Beam 19.937
1992World ChampionshipsParisBalance Beam 49.837
1992World ChampionshipsParisFloor Exercise39.887
1992World ChampionshipsParisFloor Exercise 39.900
1992World ChampionshipsParisFloor Exercise 29.900
1992European ChampionshipsNantesAll-Around439.137
1992European ChampionshipsNantesVault69.86269.887
1992European ChampionshipsNantesUneven Bars29.90039.900
1992European ChampionshipsNantesBalance Beam379.400
1992European ChampionshipsNantesFloor Exercise59.87519.950

YearCompetition DescriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisTeam1396.055
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisAll-Around1339.161579.211
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisVaultWD319.775
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisUneven Bars88.200219.887
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisBalance Beam819.775
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisFloor Exercise819.774
1990World Cup FinalBrusselsAll-Around139.599
1990World Cup FinalBrusselsVault49.88739.925
1990World Cup FinalBrusselsUneven Bars19.93719.887
1990World Cup FinalBrusselsBalance Beam49.88729.887
1990World Cup FinalBrusselsFloor Exercise39.88729.900