Happy birthday to Yelena Shevchenko!

As a child Yelena was very trusting. She was friendly with other kids but lived a bit in her own world. She had a good memory which helped her a lot at school. By nature a creative person and an eternal optimist, she had many interests and strove for perfection in each.

She could have easily become an actress, model, translator, but destiny brought 7 year old Yelena to Moscow CSKA where she fell in love with gymnastics and found friends & mentors. Her first coaches were Viktor and Irina Razumovskiy.

Soon the mere fascination with gymnastics ended & 5 years of hard work began, plus the will to achieve serious results. More than once she was tempted to quit, but persisted. She perfected her characteristic expression on floor which bewitched the judges & spectators alike.

She had many competitors at CSKA and later at Vatutinki to keep her driven including Gurova, later Chudina and Baraksanova along with others. She competed for the Armed Forces team and first made the national team at 12.