Oksana Lyapina

Who is Oksana Lyapina?

Oksana Lyapina was born, in Armavir, Russia on 28 April 1980 and shares her birthday with former team mate Rozalia Galiyeva.

A talented gymnast, she competed in the 1995 Junior European Championships and helped her team win Gold.

In 1996 she went to the Olympic Games, along with Rozalia Galiyeva and Svetlana Khorkina but the team was disappointed when they could only win Silver in team competition, rather than the Gold they felt they deserved, after finishing on top in the compulsory round. Russia had a tough time focusing due partly to the American crowd in Atlanta, which distracted them many times - resulting in many falls and wobbles. Oksana fell from the beam and ended the night in tears.

After the Olympics, Oksana fared better and went on to win some of her first individual medals but an injury prevented her from proper training and competing, so she failed to make the 1997 World Championships.