Tamara Lazakovich

Sport: Artistic gymnastics 

Born: 11 March 1954

Birthplace: Gusevo, Kaliningrad Region, RSFSR

Honors:

Honored Master of Sports of the USSR

Career highlights:

Gold (team), Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, 1972

Silver (balance beam), Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, 1972

Bronze medals (all-around, floor), Olympic Games in Munich,  1972

Gold, World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, 1970

Three gold, two silver medals, European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Minsk, BSSR, 1971

Gold (all-around, Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, 1971             

USSR champion, 1971

Biography:

Tamara Lazakovich was born on 11 March 1954 in the village of Gusevo, Kaliningrad Region, the RSFSR. In the early 1960s the family of the future Olympic champion moved to Vitebsk, where Tamara took up artistic gymnastics.

She was trained by outstanding coach Vikenty Dmitriev, an honorary citizen of Vitebsk. Tamara Lazakovich was a fast learner thanks to her phenomenal physical and personal qualities such as flexibility, quick wit, complete lack of fear and diligence.

At the age of 14 the athlete clinched five medals at the USSR Junior Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At that very time, Larisa Latynina, the head coach of the USSR national team, took notice of the young athlete. There were even plans to take Tamara Lazakovich to the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968 as a reserve athlete on the USSR national team. The athlete, however, did not go.

Once Larisa Petrik left the Vitebsk gymnastics school and moved to Moscow following the 1986 Olympics, Vikenty Dmitriev focused on Tamara Lazakovich’s training. He polished the athlete’s technique to perfection and in 1970 the 16-year-old Belarusian took the all-around bronze and the balance beam gold at the USSR Artistic Gymnastics Championships and made it to the national team.

1971 was one of the most successful years in Tamara Lazakovich’s sporting career. She won three gold medals at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Minsk, became the individual all-around champion of Europe, and won the individual all-around gold at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and of the USSR Championships.

At the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, Tamara Lazakovich won four medals - gold (team), silver (balance beam) and two bronze medals (all-around and floor). The athlete’s refined technique and grace stunned both spectators and judges. All gymnastics fans revered Tamara Lazakovich as a symbol of elegance and true artistry.

In 1973, Tamara Lazakovich got a knee injury at the exhibition performance in the United States, and had to retire from sport soon afterwards. From the mid-1970s till the 1990s Tamara Lazakovich worked as a coach and an instructor at the Committee for Physical Education and Sport of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. The champion’s coaching career was not so successful, however.

Tamara Lazakovich died at the age of 38 on 1 November 1992 in Vitebsk. The Tamara Lazakovich Artistic Gymnastics Memorial Tournament is held in Vitebsk every November-December.


Share: