Natallia Tsylinskaya

Natallia Tsylinskaya

Natallia Tsylinskaya on a 2004 Belarusian stamp
Personal information
Full name	Natallia Tsylinskaya
Born	(1975-04-30) April 30, 1975 (age 41) Minsk, Belarus
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb; 11.5 st)
Team information
Discipline	Track & Road
Role	Rider
Professional team(s)
2007–	Safi – Pasta Zara – Manhattan
Medal record Representing  Belarus Track cycling Olympic Games 2004 Athens 500 m Time Trial World Championships 2000 Manchester Sprint 2000 Manchester 500 Time Trial 2002 Copenhagen Sprint 2002 Copenhagen 500 Time Trial 2003 Stuttgart 500 Time Trial 2005 Los Angeles 500 Time Trial 2006 Bordeaux Sprint 2006 Bordeaux 500 Time Trial 2003 Stuttgart Sprint

Natallia Tsylinskaya (Russian: Наталья Цилинская, born 30 August 1975) is an international cyclist, specialising in track sprinting. A dominant force in particular in the 500m time trial between 2000 and 2006, Tsylinskaya is an eight time World Champion, and an Olympic bronze medalist.

Tsylinskaya first began cycle racing when a trainer visited her school, Minsk School No. 1, and taught the art of road cycling. It was not until her one of her friends suggested she try track cycling that she discovered a talent for high speed "sprinting".

Under the direction of her trainer Alexander Beljatsky (who rode for Russia's premier road racing team Dynamo), Tsylinskaya won the Youth USSR Championship at the age of 14. At age 16, in 1993, she travelled to Sydney, Australia to participate in the Junior World Championships, where she won a bronze medal.

Having left cycling to get married and start a family, Belarusian authorities convinced Natallia to return to competitive cycling during the winter of 1998. As Minsk did not have a track or adequate training facilities, Tsylinskaya moved to Moscow, where she trained at Krylatskom (Russian: Крылатском) velodrome.

Tsylinskaya first gained international notice at the 2000 World Championships in Manchester, England where she won gold in both the 500mTT and the Sprint, yet these results alone were not sufficient for a qualification for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In 2001, she teamed up with Russian trainer Stanislav Solovyev (Станислав Соловьев), who remained her coach throughout her career. She won gold for both the sprint and 500mTT events at three of the four world cups in that year but failed to gain a medal at the 2001 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium She also suffered a severe crash during the sprint qualification rounds, where she broke her collarbone.