Yelena Lvovna Shushunova (; sometimes spelled Elena Shushunova; 23 May 1969 – 16 August 2018) was a Soviet Russian gymnast. Shushunova was one of five women (alongside Larisa Latynina, Věra Čáslavská, Ludmilla Tourischeva and Lilia Podkopayeva) who have won all-around titles at all major competitions: Olympics, World Championships and European/Continental Championships
Junior career
Shushunova was born and grew up in Leningrad and began gymnastics when she was approximately six or seven years old. She began competing as a junior gymnast in 1981. In her floor exercise she tumbled a double layout, and side Arabian 1 and 3/4 salto, both were rare skills for women at that time and women are no longer allowed to compete saltos which end in a roll. She also displayed her signature skill, a straddle jump to prone support.
Shushunova's dominance in women's gymnastics continued at the 1986 World Cup in Beijing. There she won the all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise titles. In this competition she displayed an increased level of difficulty on two apparatus, showing a Rulfova flic (full twisting Korbut flic) on balance beam and a tucked full in double salto dismount on the uneven bars. At the European Championships she earned a bronze in the all-around and a gold on vault. In the following year, she was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Apparatus !! Name !! Description !! Difficulty
!Notes
|-
| Uneven bars || Shushunova || Swing forward with half turn – further half turn to counter straddle in flight over high bar || E (0.5)
|
|-
| Balance beam/floor|| Shushunova || Jump with stretched hips to planche (minimum 40 degree angle) || C (0.3)/A (0.1)
|
Competitive history
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;"
|-
! align=center|Year
! align=center|Event
! style="width:30px;"|Team
! style="width:30px;"|AA
! style="width:30px;"|VT
! style="width:30px;"|UB
! style="width:30px;"|BB
! style="width:30px;"|FX
|-
! colspan="8" | Junior
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1980
| align=left | Junior USSR Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Junior USSR Cup || ||6 || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1981
| align=left | Kosice International || ||6 || 5|| || ||
|-
| align=left | Riga International || ||4 || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Ostrava International || || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1982
|- bgcolor=#F5F6CE
| align=left | Junior European Championships || || 15|| || || ||
|-
| align=left | Moscow News || || || || || ||
|-
! colspan="32" | Senior
|-
| rowspan="6" | 1983
| align=left | Chunichi Cup || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | East Bloc Spartikade || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Tokyo Cup || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Championships || || || || ||4 ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Cup || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Spartikade || || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="7" | 1984
| align=left | Chunichi Cup || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Moscow News || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Tokyo Cup || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Junior Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Championships || || || 6|| || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Cup || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Friendship Games || || || || || ||8
|-
| rowspan="6" | 1985
|-bgcolor=#F5F6CE
| align=left | European Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Moscow News || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Cup || || || || || ||
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left | World Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1986
| align=left |Goodwill Games || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Cup || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | World Cup Final || || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="6" | 1987
|-bgcolor=#F5F6CE
| align=left | European Championships || || || || ||4 ||
|-
| align=left |Summer Universiade || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Cup || || || || || ||
|-bgcolor=#CCCCFF
| align=left | World Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1988
| align=left | French International || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | Moscow News || || || || || ||6
|-
| align=left | USSR Championships || || || || || ||
|-
| align=left | USSR Cup || || || || || ||
|-bgcolor=98FB98
| align=left | Olympic Games || || || 8|| || ||7
|-
| rowspan="1" | 1991
| align=left | World Professional Championships || || || || || ||
|}
See also
- List of select Jewish gymnasts
- List of top female medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
References
External links
- Elena Shushunova at Gymn Forum
- Schuschunova element on the floor (3rd one in the sequence) – animated .gif