by John Crumlish
World silver medalist Natalia Ziganshina is well aware of her place in history
2001 world all-around silver madalist Natalia Ziganshina of Russia modestly- and understandably- simplifies the formula that in her first year of senior eligibility boosted her to within one spot of global supremacy.
The 16-year-old St. Petersburg native instead cites coach Viktor Gavrichenkov for devising her quadrant of even performances not only at last year's worlds in Ghent, but at the 2001 Russian championships and '00 Junior Europeans, where she finished second and third, respectively. Nowhere does the unassuming Ziganshina credit her own intrinsically dignified contributions to the artistry of her routines or her unflustered execution thereof.
"In 2000, we started building a new program with new elements," says Ziganshina. "After adding the new elements, we worked on stability. Then we worked harder, and finally were able to show everything together."
Ziganshina's oblivious deflection of credit for her success attests as much to the humility of her character as to her trust in Gavrichenkov. She also is aware of and influenced by the legion of champions who hail from her hometown. Gavrichenkov's previous protege, Yelena Shushunova, won the all-around gold medal at the '88 Olympics and tied for the all-around title at the '85 worlds.
Ziganshina says pride for her hometown predeccessors has always been integral to her development, thanks to shushunova herself as well as Gavrichenkov's commitment to keep the honor of their achievements fresh. "Viktor constantly talks to us about Yelena, and she comes to watch us train often, and judges us at several competitions," says Ziganshina. "Viktor has simply told me how all of the other champions before me trained, how they competed and what they dreamed."
In addition to Shushunova, St. Petersburg area champions include '96 Russian Olympian Yevgenia Kuznetsova, '80 Olympic all-around champions Yelena Davydova and Alexander Ditiatin, '68 Olympic balance beam champion Natalia Kuchinskaya, and '56 and '64 Olympic medalist Tamara Manina. (Davydova and her coach, Gennady Korshunov, had relocated from Voronezh to train in St. Petersburg two years prior to the '80 Games.)
Even prior to the worlds last fall, Ziganshina helped to establish the city as a domestic leader for the new decade. At the '01 Russian championships, held in Moscow in April, St. Petersburg placed the most gymnasts (five) of any region among the top 18 all-arounders, and finished first in the team competition. In the all-around final, Ziganshina and fellow St. Petersburg gymnast Irina Kryuchkova placed second and third, respectively. Only 2000 Olympic double gold medalist Yelena Zamolodchikova of Moscow finished higher, just 0.125 above preliminary winner Ziganshina.
Gavrichenkov's knack for equally distributing a gymnast's strengths across four events has produced in Ziganshina the same consistency that made Shushunova the Olympic titlist, and could possible do the same for Ziganshina in 2004. In the all-around final at the '01 worlds, for example, the disparity between Ziganshina's high and low scores on the four events was the least among the top finishers. At the '00 Junior Europeans, she was the only gymnast to qualify for all four event finals.
"I try to treat all of the events equally," Ziganshina explains, implying that her psychological approval of each piece adapts itself to her overall steadiness. "Every event is my favorite, even if it does not go well."
Ziganshina even pays homage to Shushunova by performing one of the latter's namesake skills (essentially a full-twisting Tkatchev) on uneven bars. "Viktor showed me pictures of the trick," she recalls. "It was very difficult to learn. I started working on it in the summer of 2000, and performed it for the first time at the ('01) Russian championships." Last summer, Ziganshina caught it at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, where she won the silver medal on the event behind perennial uneven-bars champion Svetlana Khorkina.
Ziganshina's other standout tricks include a double jump turn to prone position on floor exercise, and a standing Arabian that punctuates her balance beam routine. "I mentally prepare for it," says Ziganshina of the Arabian. "I think about how to do it and how to finish it right, standing up straight."
Ziganshina's incorporation of perilous acrobatic skills among otherwise flowing routines makes hers a style unto itself, however. Delivered via her relatively lanky yet muscular physique, Ziganshina's performances demonstrate the best of tastes- classic and trendy.
Still, Gavrichenkov says Ziganshina is a work in progress. At the '01 worlds, he assessed her second-place finish as a "shock," but quickly qualified his approval of the result. "Any one of them could have won the gold medal," he said, pointing to Ziganshina and the other medalists, winning teamate Khorkina and bronze medalist Andreea Raducan or Romania. "But I think that, right now, Natasha does not have a difficult program to win. It is not complete yet. We have not yet achieved this level when Natasha will become a leader, but in reality, we can make it happen."
Born Dec. 24, 1985, Ziganshina began training at age "4 1/2, almost 5," she says, after her parents recieved a solicitous letter in the mail from a local gym. "My parents brought me there and we liked it, and I wanted to do it," Ziganshina recalls. She was gradually transferred to Gavrichenkov's group, earning in 1999 the All-Russia junior title in her age group. Still technically a junior, she finished 10th at the '00 Russian senior championships prior to her international breakout at the Junior Europeans in Paris that spring.
Sports are a family affair for the Ziganshinas. Father Kamil used to compete as a boxer and now works as a loader for the Metro. Mother Tatiana, who also was active in sports, is now an accountant. Younger sister Gulnara (born in 1987) and brother Ruslan (born in 1990) are also gymnasts. Last year, Gulnara placed first all-around at the Japan Junior Invitational, and first on unevenbars and fifth all-around at the European Youth Olympic Days meet in Spain.
"I am a bit tougher and she is a bit softer," says Ziganshina of Gulnara. "She is trying to make her program as difficult as mine, and we almost have the same program. We help each other everywhere. I help her; she helps me. We encourage each other in hard times." A Candidate for Master of Sport in 2001, Gulnara will be competing alongside Natalia in the Master of Sport category this year, according to her sister.
Ziganshina also notes the merger of Russian and Tatar roots that manifest themselves in her family, and in her vaguely exotic facial features that add a tinge of intrigue to her gymnastics. Her father is of Tatar descent, her mother Russian. "I was named after my Russian great-grandmother," says Ziganshina proudly, noting that Gulnara and Ruslan are Tatar names. "My father was born in Kazan and was named in honor of the flower (camilla)." All three Ziganshina children were born in St. Petersburg.
Now that Ziganshina is a core member of the Russian national team, she divides her time between her family and home gym in St. Petersburg, and Krugloye, the national training center outside Moscow. At home, she journeys 45 minutes on the Metro to get to practice. ("Of all the girls, I live the closest to the gym," she adds.) There, she trains from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., then attends school and eats, and trains again from about 6 to 8 p.m.
When Ziganshina is at Krugloye, workouts are staggered throughout the day buut she studdies between them. Her curriculum includes math, history and English, the latter subject she and Gulnara study together for additional proficiency. To relaz, Ziganshina enjoys "biser" (pronounced bee-ser), a handicraft using tiny beads to create designs on cloth. She also likes to draw, a talent she says she has acquired from her artistic mother.
Ziganshina's introspective hobbies do not mean she is averse to the gradually widening spotlight in which she finds herself. Following her success in Ghent, she tied for first place at the Arthur Gander Memorial in Switzerland. By year's end, she was chosen as the fourth-best athlete from St. Petersburg for 2001 (veteran pairs skater Yelena Berezhnaya was first), by the St. Petersburg Committee for Physiculture and Sport. Fittingly, Gavrichenkov was named fourth best coach.
Reticent at the press conference following the '00 Junior Europeans, Ziganshina was effusive and adroit when fielding questions from the press at the '01 worlds. She is even more engaging in a private conversation. "I am a bit nervous at press conferences," Ziganshina confesses with a self-conscious giggle. "Close encounters are better."
As she continues to gain confidence in her new international stature, Ziganshina placidly bears the imposing expectations of her St. Petersburg legacy- inspired by, and inspirational to, her historically gilded city itself.
-John Crumlish
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