Yelena Shushunova

Yelena Shushunova
— Gymnast —
Yelena Shushunova in 1987
Personal information
Full name	Yelena Lvovna Shushunova
Alternative name(s)	Elena Shushunova
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1969-04-23) 23 April 1969 (age 47) Leningrad, Russian SSR, Soviet Union
Residence	Saint Petersberg, Russia
Height	1.47 m (4 ft 10 in)
Weight	41 kg (90 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Club	SKA St. Petersburg
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Team 1988 Seoul All-Around 1988 Seoul Balance Beam 1988 Seoul Uneven Bars World Championships 1985 Montreal Team 1985 Montreal All-Around 1985 Montreal Vault 1987 Rotterdam Vault 1987 Rotterdam Floor Exercise 1985 Montreal Floor Exercise 1987 Rotterdam Team 1987 Rotterdam All-Around 1987 Rotterdam Balance Beam 1985 Montreal Balance Beam 1987 Rotterdam Uneven Bars World Cup Final 1986 Beijing All-Around 1986 Beijing Vault 1986 Beijing Uneven Bars 1986 Beijing Floor Exercise 1986 Beijing Balance Beam European Championships 1985 Helsinki All-Around 1985 Helsinki Vault 1985 Helsinki Uneven Bars 1985 Helsinki Floor Exercise 1987 Moscow Vault 1985 Helsinki Balance Beam 1987 Moscow All-Around Friendship Games 1984 Olomouc Team 1984 Olomouc All-Around

Yelena Lvovna Shushunova (Russian: Елена Львовна Шушунова; name sometimes rendered Elena Shushunova; born 23 April 1969) is a Russian (former Soviet) gymnast, World, European, and Olympic Champion. Shushunova is one of only two women (Ludmilla Tourischeva being the other) who has won the grand slam of All-Around titles: Olympics, World Championships, European/Continental Championships. Shushunova was renowned for pioneering complex skills as well as for her explosive and dynamic tumbling and high consistency.

Shushunova's career highlights as a junior gymnast include gold medals at the 1982 Moscow News (now known as Moscow Stars of the World) and the Junior European Championships. In 1983 she won the USSR Cup, which she won every year until 1988 with the exception of 1984.

Shushunova was unable to compete at the 1984 Summer Olympics, which were boycotted by the Soviet Union. Instead, she competed at the 1984 Friendship Games in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia, where she finished third all around and helped the USSR to a gold in the team event, which they dominated.

The following year she made her breakthrough by winning the all around title at the European Championships. She also won the three gold medals in the event finals on vault, floor exercise, and uneven bars which she shared with East German Olympian Maxi Gnauck. At the World Championships she won five medals including the all-around title, which she shared with compatriot Oksana Omelianchik. She took first on vault, third on beam, and second on floor to her teammate Oksana Omelianchik. In her floor exercise set to the Charleston she tumbled a double layout, and side Arabian 1 and 3/4 salto, both rare skills for women at that time; in fact, women are no longer allowed to compete saltos which end in a roll. Here she displayed her signature skill, a straddle jump to prone support, rare and innovative for the 80s but fairly common for recent gymnastics exercises. Neither Shushunova nor Omelianhchik actually qualified to the all around as their teammates Irina Baraksanova and Alternate Games Champion Olga Mostepanova earned higher preliminary scores. However considering their recent successes at the European Championships, the Soviet coaches guessed that they were the two best hopes for a world title.