Yelena Shvaybovich (Ksenzhik)

Sport: Basketball

Born: 3 February 1966

Birthplace: Minsk, BSSR

Honors:

Honored Master of Sport of the USSR

Career highlights:

Gold, Olympic Games in Barcelona, 1992

Gold, EuroBasket Women, 1989

Silver, Goodwill Games, 1990

Gold, Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, 1998-2000

Gold, Basket Liga Kobiet, 1993-1994

Silver, Soviet Women's Basketball Championship, 1989

Silver, Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, 1996

Bronze, Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, 1995, 1997

Biography:

Yelena Shvaybovich (née Ksenzhik) was born in Minsk. At the age of ten, she enrolled at Children's and Youth Olympic Reserve School No. 10 of Minsk. Yelena’s first coach Aleksandr Malashko did not want to admit her at first because she was not tall enough.

"I remember crying because of this, but I was persistent and eventually found my way to the sports club." A year later, the coach said: "You will be on the national team, you will be a champion!" In 1978, Aleksandr Malashko and his students were transferred to another junior sports school to train with the professional team Horizont (Minsk).

Soon Yelena as part of the BSSR national junior team became the champion of the 1984 USSR Spartakiad of School Students in Tashkent. After that, famous coach Semyon Khalipsky invited Yelena Shvaybovich to the main roster of the Horizont team.

The team from Minsk was not distinguished by their physique but they boasted great teamwork and played well in defense and attack. Four years in a row, Horizont played in the bronze-medal match of the USSR Championship but finished just shy of the podium every time. However in 1989 the club won a silver medal of the championship losing only to CSKA Moscow that made up the core of the USSR national team.

Yelena Shvaybovich also went through all junior and youth teams of the USSR. In 1989, Honored Coach of the USSR and Russia Evgeny Gomelsky invited her to the main national team. Her first major tournament was the 1990 FIBA World Championship for Women in Malaysia. The Soviet team finished only fifth. However, at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle, the Soviet team, including Yelena Shvaybovich, placed second behind the U.S. team.

That year, Yelena also graduated from Belarusian State Polytechnic Institute.

Ahead of the 1992 Olympics Games in Barcelona, coaches Evgeny Gomelsky and Vadim Kapranov put together a strong team – the CIS Unified Team which competed under the Olympic flag.

At the start of the tournament the CIS Unified Team suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Cuba. This match was watched by the U.S. women’s team dubbed as Dream Team 2 by analogy with the brilliant men's Dream Team. In Barcelona, in matches with Cuba, the CIS team looked hectic and erratic. Experts prematurely declared the Team USA champions and Brazil vice champions of the Games.

After the painful loss to Cuba, eminent coach Evgeny Gomelsky managed to restore the team’s fighting spirit. Those familiar with Soviet coaching methods might assume that the coach gave the team a good scolding. But, the coach did the opposite. He arranged a wine and dine evening to cheer the girls up. It worked, and the team started doing better from game to game defeating the powerful Brazilian team in the quarterfinal. Technical excellence and assertiveness of the Americans were opposed by a markedly calm tight-checking game of the Soviet team in the semifinals. The Americans had to throw from afar, which was not their forte. The U.S. team was left reeling in the semifinal while the CIS Unified Team marched on to the final against China.

The rivals from the Celestial Empire put up a real fight, but Evgeny Gomelsky’s team prevailed 76:66. Yelena Shvaybovich became one of the most valuable players of the tournament, gaining an average of 9.8 points per match.

After the triumph in Barcelona, Yelena Shvaybovich continued her career at Olimpia Poznan to help the club win the Poland champion title in 1993 and 1994, the silver medal of the Ronchetti Cup (1993), and the bronze medal of the European Champions Cup (1993) ... After that she was invited by Honored Coach of Russia Tatyana Ovechkina to play for Dynamo Moscow. She stayed with the team for several years becoming the champion of Russia three times (1998-2000).

After retirement, Yelena Shvaybovich gave birth to two sons: Ivan and Matvei. In 2003 her spouse Aleksandr Khozhainov became Deputy Director General at BC Lokomotiv Rostov. The family moved to Rostov-on-Don. At first Yelena watched basketball games as a mere spectator, then got a job as a part-time commentator on Rostov television remaining mostly a stay-at-home mom.

In February 2006, Yelena Shvaybovich became director general of the women's basketball club Rostov-Don. In the 2010/2011 season, the team took part in the Russian Basketball Super League. In the following season the team won silver at the Super League and secured promotion to the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League. Yelena Shvaybovich continues working at the club promoting women’s basketball in the region.