Natalia Godunko Ukrainian:

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

 Наталія Годунко Natalija Godunko (born 5 December 1984) is an Individual Rhythmic Gymnast

Rhythmic gymnastics

Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or teams of competitors manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus: rope, clubs, hoop, ball, ribbon and Free . An individual athlete only manipulates 1 apparatus at a time...

. She started rhythmic gymnastics in 1990 at age 6. She trains in Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 under the mother/daughter coaching team of Albina and Irina Deriugina

Irina Deriugina

Irina Deriugina is a Ukrainian former individual Rhythmic Gymnast. She is the only Soviet rhythmic gymnast who possesses two all around world titles, which she won in 1977 and 1979. Her mother, Albina, was her coach...

. She was born in Kiev, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 (in present day Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

).

Natalia has been on the Ukrainian National Team since 1998. Some years ago she was an unknown group gymnast who did a bit of individual competition but, she didn't achieve anything overly significant. She was the number 3 gymnast in Ukraine back then but, through training hard and a strong belief in herself she became noticed.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics Natalia qualified in 4th with a score of 102.750. In the final she came 5th (Ribbon 26.125, Clubs 26.375, Ball 25.800, Hoop 25.500). In 2005 she has become a real rival to Anna Bessonova

Anna Bessonova

Anna Bessonova is an Individual Rhythmic Gymnast who was born in Kiev, Ukraine. Her father is the Dynamo Kiev football player Vladimir Bessonov and her mother, Viktoria, was a two time world champion group rhythmic gymnast....

for the position of Ukrainian Number 1 gymnast. In front of a home audience Natal'ja took out the Deriugina Cup.