 Gymnastic
Star
One of Russia's top Olympic hopefuls,
Yelena Produnova already has proven she can win at international
competitions. At the 1997 World Championships, she won bronze medals in
the individual all-around and the floor exercise. Yelena Produnova was first
known for her prowess on floor, but in recent years has proven to be a
skilled all-around gymnast, incorporating a high level of difficulty on
her uneven bars and beam routines.
Four
by Four
At the 1999 World Championships, Yelena Produnova was a member of the Russian
team that squandered its lead in the final rotation and finished runner-up
to Romania. The individual competitions would prove similarly frustrating
for Produnova, who placed fourth in the all-around and her three apparatus
finals (vault, uneven bars and floor).
Headstrong
In a break from Russian tradition,
Yelena chooses her own elements for routines. Russian head coach Leonid
Arkayev takes it in stride, partially because Yelena has great potential.
Before she moved to the national center in Moscow at 13, Yelena was
coached by the husband and wife duo of Ruslan and Veronika Lavrov.
Pick
a Door, Any Door
Yelena became a gymnast by accident when she was 5. At her school, there
were two doors to enter the building. One day she entered the wrong one
just as a coach had finished selecting students to be gymnasts. The coach
saw Yelena, assumed she was simply late, and chose her to be a gymnast.
Yelena loved gymnastics from the start -- the trampoline was her favorite
-- but wasn't serious about the sport until she was 8, when the Lavrovs
took over.
Personal
Yelena has a cat named Max and a dog
named Lord. She admits to being somewhat superstitious. She reads her
horoscope daily, and for competitions, she brings a written prayer from
her mother and carries around a stuffed hedgehog for good luck. Her
favorite actors are Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and her gymnastics idol
is Svetlana Boginskaya. Yelena plays the piano and likes music by Madonna
and Celine Dion. But when she really wants to rock out, she goes to punk
rock, grunge and heavy-metal concerts -- and dresses the part.
Life
at the Training Center
Yelena shares a room at the Russian training center at Round Lake with her
best friend, 1997 all-around world champion Svetlana Khorkina. Yelena
jokes that she is the one who taught fashion-savvy Sveta about clothes and
makeup. Girls at Round Lake are famous for experimenting with makeup and
hair color -- at various times Yelena's hair has been purple, red, orange
and brown.
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