Olena Vitrychenko

Olena Ihorivna Vitrychenko, also known as Elena or Yelena Vitrichenko, is a Ukrainian former rhythmic gymnast who primarily competed as an individual. She is the 1996 Olympics bronze medalist, the 1997 World all-around champion, and the 1997 European all-around champion. She now coaches in the United States.

Career

Olena Vitrychenko was introduced to the sport in 1980 when she was four years old by her mother, Nina, herself a former rhythmic gymnast. Her mother coached her at the Deriugins School in Kyiv, and beginning in 1997, she trained in the Boris Savlokhov club. Her mother alleged that they were essentially kicked out of the Deriugins school by not being allowed full training time and rarely being allowed to practice routines with music.
Vitrychenko made her international debut in 1986. At the 1992 European Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, she won a bronze medal as a member of the Ukrainian group. At the 1994 World Championships in Paris, she placed 6th in the all-around.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Vitrychenko seemed to be a contender for the gold medal, having placed first after preliminaries and second after the semi-finals. She was the only gymnast to perform clean routines on all days of the competition, including during the final; she finished with a good ribbon routine after Kateryna Serebrianska and Yana Batyrshina both dropped their ribbons during the last round of the competition finals. However, she placed third, a result that was controversial. Vitrychenko said in a 1998 interview that she felt "there was a little bit of unfair judging" at the event, though she defended having her own mother judge her at other events, pointing to the hoop final at the 1997 World Championships, where her mother scored her under Natalia Lipkovskaya, who won the final.
Vitrychenko won the all-around at the 1997 European Championships, where she also won gold in the hoop final, the 1997 Summer Universiade, and the 1997 World Championships, where she additionally won three of the event finals. The next year, she lost both the 1998 European Championships and the 1998 Goodwill Games titles to Alina Kabaeva. At the 1999 World Championships, she was fifth in the all-around but won the hoop and rope titles with perfect 10 scores.
At the peak of a long and well-publicized feud with the head of the Ukrainian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, Irina Deriugina, Vitrychenko was placed 19th in the qualification round at the 2000 European Championships in Zaragoza, Spain, and she withdrew in protest. After an official review determined that certain judges had clearly discriminated against Vitrichenko, Deriugina and five other judges were banned for one year. The other 26 judges at the event were not allowed to judge the Olympics.
Afterward, the International Olympic Committee awarded her a spot on the Ukrainian Olympic team. She performed well at the Olympics, finishing in fourth place behind Alina Kabaeva. She retired in 2000.

Coaching career

Vitrychenko coached rhythmic gymnastics in Spain for ten years. In March 2013, she began coaching at the Illinois Rhythmic Gymnastic Center. In 2014, she opened her own gym, which moved to Libertyville, Illinois in 2024.

Personal life

Vitrychenko has three children.

Routine music information

Year	Apparatus	Music title
2000	Hoop	Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Vanessa Mae
2000	Rope	Bumble Bee Boogie by Robert Wells
2000	Rope	Ty zh mene pidmanula by Vladimir Bustriakov
2000	Ball	Apassionata by Secret Garden
2000	Ribbon	Plaza of Execution / Stealing the Map music from The Mask of Zorro by James Horner
1999	Hoop	Steppe by Rene Aubry
1999	Rope	Ty zh mene pidmanula by Vladimir Bustriakov
1999	Rope	Plaza of Execution / Stealing the Map music from The Mask of Zorro by James Horner
1999	Ball	Apassionata by Secret Garden
1999	Ribbon	Harlem Nocturne by Sam Taylor
1999	Ribbon	Theme from Rainman by Hans Zimmer
1998	Hoop	Saltimbanco music from Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco by Rene Dupere
1998	Clubs	Birimbau by Rene Dupere
1998	Rope	Seisouso music from Quidam by Benoît Jutras
1998	Ribbon	One Man's Dream by Yanni
1997	Hoop	Saltimbanco music from Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco by Rene Dupere
1997	Clubs	Birimbau by Rene Dupere
1997	Clubs	Latino by Anatoly Vekshin
1997	Rope	The Heat by Peter Gabriel
1997	Ribbon	One Man's Dream by Yanni
1996	Ball	?
1996	Rope	Sing, Sing, Sing by Benjamin Goodman
1996	Clubs	?
1996	Ribbon	Pink Panther, by Henry Mancini
1995	Ball	Echano by Chuck Mangione
1995	Rope	Sing, Sing, Sing by Benjamin Goodman
1995	Rope	Toccata & Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach
1995	Clubs	?
1995	Ribbon	Carmen SuiteScene from Carmen Suite by Rodion Shchedrin/ Bizet
1995	Ribbon	Boléro by Maurice Ravel
1994	Ball	Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach
1994	Rope	Marche en la by Ennio Morricone
1994	Clubs	Eclipse by Rene Dupere
1994	Ribbon	Peer Gynt Suite No.1: In The Hall Of The Mountain King music from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg
1993	Ball	Marche en la by Ennio Morricone
1993	Ball	Peer Gynt Suite No.1: In The Hall Of The Mountain King music from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg
1993	Hoop	?
1993	Clubs	Rhapsody in Blue / Fascinating Rhythm by George Gershwin
1993	Ribbon	?

Detailed Olympic results

Year	Competition description	Location	Music	Apparatus	Score-Final	Score-Qualifying
1996	Olympics	Atlanta		Gymnastics at the [1996 Summer Olympics – Women's rhythmic individual all-around\|All-around]	39.331	39.266
1996	Olympics	Atlanta	unknown music	Ribbon	9.816	9.866
1996	Olympics	Atlanta	Sing, Sing, Sing by Benjamin Goodman	Rope	9.866	9.750
1996	Olympics	Atlanta	Pink Dream by Anatoly Vekshin	Ball	9.800	9.900
1996	Olympics	Atlanta	unknown music	Clubs	9.849	9.750

Honours

Longines Prize for Elegance: 1999
Orders
Honorary Award of the President of Ukraine: 1996
Order of Merit 2nd Class: 1997