Elena Naimushina (USSR)

1980 World Cup B Champion

Elena was born on November 19, 1964, in Krasnoyarsk. Her older sister did gymnastics and Elena followed her to the gym at age 5. Her coach was Valentin Shevchuk (who also coached Soviet national team members Tatiana Godenko and Viktoria Ivkova) at Dynamo Krasnoyarsk. After the Olympics, she had injuries and spats with her coach. At age 18, she left home and moved to Riga with her future husband, Andris (a world-class cyclist). She had her first son, Tom, a year later, with second son Philip arriving a year after that. Daughter Linda was born in 1995. After fifteen years of marriage, Lena divorced and returned to Russia with her daughter, while her sons chose to remain in Latvia. She remarried and worked as a coach for a while, then returned to Krasnoyarsk and lived with her mother. She died in her sleep from a stroke on March 14, 2017.  

Competition Results

1976
Jr. USSR Cup (Candidate for Master of Sport):  1st AA

1977

Jr. HUN-USSR Dual Meet: 1st Team, 3rd UB
Jr. USSR Championships:  3rd Team, 3rd AA, 2nd B, 3rd V, 3rd FX
Jr. USSR-GDR Dual Meet:  1st Team, 6th AA
Jr. USSR-ITA Dual Meet:  1st Team, 2nd AA

Jr. USSR-TG Russelheim (FRG) Dual Meet:  1st Team, 3rd AA

RFSFR Youth Championships:  4th AA

 

1978

Chunichi Cup:  2nd AA

Cottbus International: 5th AA, 1st V, 4th B, 3rd FX
Moscow News:  7th AA
RSFSR Championships:  1st AA, 1st UB

RSFSR-CSSR Dual Meet: 1st Team, 1st AA, 1st B, 1st FX, 3rd V
USSR Championships:  3rd AA

 

1979

American Cup:  6th AA

Champions All:  2nd AA

European Championships:  17th AA
USSR Championships:  7th AA, 3rd FX

USSR Cup:  2nd AA

USSR Spartakiade:  1st Team, 16th AA

World Championships:  2nd Team, 13th AA

 

1980

Moscow News:  3rd AA, 1st B, 2nd UB, 3rd FX

Olympic Games:  1st Team

USSR Championships:  4th AA, 1st B, 2nd FX, 7th UB

USSR Cup:  3rd AA

World Cup:  7th AA, 1st B, 2nd FX

 

1981

Milan Grand Prix: 1st AA

USSR Cup:  5th AA, 1st FX, 3rd B

This page was last updated on February 14, 2026.
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