Elena Grosheva


Yelena Nikolayevna Grosheva is a Russian former competitive gymnast. She won silver in the team event at the 1996 Summer Olympics and two team medals at the World Championships.

Personal life

Grosheva was born on April 12, 1979, in Russia.

Honors and awards

Career

Grosheva took up gymnastics at the age of five and showed a natural talent for the sport. In 1992, she was sent to Round Lake to train as part of the national team. Her first big competition was the 1994 Junior European Championships and later the same year she went to the World Championships.
At the 1994 Goodwill Games she had a stellar competition and one of the high points of her career, being a pivotal part of the Russian gold medal winning team, and winning bronze behind Dina Kochetkova and Shannon Miller, and ahead of such stars as Lilia Podkopayeva in the women's All Around. In 1996, Grosheva finished second all-around in the Russian Cup and became a member of the Olympic team. At the Olympic Games in Atlanta, the Russian team was in the lead after the compulsories, but in the finals she and her teammates had to compete against the noise from the American crowds and finished second behind the Americans. She placed into vault event finals, but finished a disappointing 7th. Her floor exercise scores had placed her highest among the Russians for event finals, but she was replaced by teammate Dina Kochetkova. Overall score was 32.057.

Post-competitive career

After being hampered by injuries Grosheva retired from the sport and joined Cirque du Soleil. In March 2007, she was appointed UNICEF Canada Goodwill Ambassador with her husband.

Competitive history

YearCompetition descriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1997World ChampionshipsLausanneTeam2153.1971153.401
1997World ChampionshipsLausanneVault409.200
1997World ChampionshipsLausanneBalance beam169.400
1997World ChampionshipsLausanneFloor exercise528.912
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaTeam2388.404
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaAll-around1477.024
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaVault79.637719.500
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaUneven bars4719.012
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaBalance beam2118.987
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaFloor exerciseWD819.525
1995World ChampionshipsSabaeTeam4384.689
1995World ChampionshipsSabaeAll-around2137.9551376.798
1995World ChampionshipsSabaeVault79.293419.387
1995World ChampionshipsSabaeUneven bars1319.362
1995World ChampionshipsSabaeBalance beam89.562919.312
1995World ChampionshipsSabaeFloor exercise3719.099
1994World ChampionshipsDortmundTeam3194.5464385.515
1994World ChampionshipsBrisbaneAll-around1238.324