Tatiana Gutsu

Tatiana Gutsu Тетяна Ґуцу
Full name	Tatiana Gutsu
Country represented	Ukraine
Former countries represented	Unified Team  Soviet Union
Born	(1976-09-05) September 5, 1976 (age 40) Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Residence	United States
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 1 1 World Championships 1 2 0 European Championships 3 1 1 Representing  Unified Team Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona Team 1992 Barcelona All-Around 1992 Barcelona Uneven Bars 1992 Barcelona Floor Exercise Representing  Soviet Union World Championships 1991 Indianapolis Team 1991 Indianapolis Uneven Bars 1991 Indianapolis Balance Beam Representing  Ukraine European Championships 1992 Nantes All-Around 1992 Nantes Vault 1992 Nantes Uneven Bars 1992 Nantes Balance Beam 1992 Nantes Floor Exercise

Tatiana Gutsu (Ukrainian: Тетяна Костянтинівна Ґуцу, Romanian: Тatiana Guţu; born September 5, 1976, in Odessa, Ukrainian SSR) is a former artistic gymnast from the Soviet Union and the winner of the all-around title at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Renowned as a trickster, she performed some of the most difficult routines in the sport.

Born into a Ukrainian family of Moldovan descent, Gutsu started in gymnastics at age 6. She became a member of the national team of the Soviet Union in 1988. Her first major international competition was the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Indianapolis, where she won the team title with the Soviet Union and finished fifth in the individual all-around, while winning silver medals in two individual apparatus finals: the uneven bars and balance beam. Her silver on beam was highly controversial because the winner, Soviet teammate Svetlana Boginskaya, performed a simpler routine.

Gutsu was quickly noticed for the difficulty of her routines. She was one of the first gymnasts in the world to perform a double-twisting Yurchenko vault. She also debuted a double layout somersault on floor with split legs in the first salto, a skill that few others have been able to perform. Perhaps most impressively, she ended her floor routine in the team competition with a double layout somersault.

The following year, she had a disastrous showing at the 1992 World Championships. She had been expected to contend for gold on three events—uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise—but failed to reach the finals on any of them, suffering falls on both the bars and floor. However, at the European Gymnastics Championships that year, she won the all-around, vault, and uneven bars titles, as well as a silver on the balance beam. She was the most successful gymnast of the championship and established herself as one of the favorites for the Olympic all-around title.

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