Dina Kochetkova

Dina Anatolyevna Kochetkova (Russian: Дина Анатольевна Кочеткова, born 27 July 1977 in Moscow, Russian SFSR) is a Russian gymnast who competed at the 1996 Olympics. Stylistically, she was considered by many to be the "last of the Soviets," performing difficult skills with elegant, clean technique. An element she pioneered, a full-twisting back handspring on beam, remains in the Code of Points as "the Kochetkova".

Dina Kochetkova
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1977-07-27) 27 July 1977 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Eponymous skills	Balance Beam
Retired	1996
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 1 0 World Championships 2 0 3 European Championships 0 3 2 Representing Russia Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team World Championships 1994 Brisbane Floor Exercise 1996 Puerto Rico Balance Beam 1994 Dortmund Team 1994 Brisbane All-Around 1994 Brisbane Uneven Bars Goodwill Games 1994 St Petersburg Team 1994 St Petersburg All-Around 1994 St Petersburg Floor Exercise European Championships 1994 Stockholm Team 1994 Stockholm All-Around 1996 Birmingham Team 1994 Stockholm Floor Exercise 1996 Birmingham Floor Exercise

Career

Kochetkova was a member of the Soviet national team from the early 1990s. She won four medals at the 1991 Junior European Championships, placing second on the floor exercise and third in the all-around, vault and balance beam. As a senior, she competed for the Russian Federation at multiple international meets including the 1992 European Championships.

1994 was Kochetkova's breakthrough year. She won the Russian National Championships, the Goodwill Games all-around, and three individual medals at the World Gymnastics Championships in Brisbane: bronze in the all-around, behind Shannon Miller and Lavinia Miloșovici, gold on the floor exercise and another bronze on the uneven bars. Many experts and fans felt she was robbed of the 1994 World AA title due to a lack of reputation. Her rise escalated when she ended the two-year winning streak of Shannon Miller in AA competition by defeating her for the AA title at the 1994 Goodwill Games in Saint Petersburgh. Kochetkova won three more medals (silver AA and team; bronze FX) at the European Championships and shared in the team bronze medal at the World Team Championships in Dortmund. However, by the Team World Championships she was suddenly finding herself outshone by rising teammate Svetlana Khorkina, who was placed after Kochetkova in the lineup on every event in Team Finals.

At the 1995 World Championships, Kochetkova and the Russian team finished off the podium in the team competition; while Kochetkova qualified for the all-around and two event finals, subpar performances and a low vault score kept her out of medal contention. At the 1996 World Championships she rallied with a high balance beam score of 9.887 to win the event; and at the 1996 Europeans she earned a bronze on floor.

Kochetkova was a member of the Russian team for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and was considered a medal contender for multiple individual events. Kochetkova, as one of the most experienced Russian team members, showed strong performances in the team competition, qualifying in third place to the individual all-around. In the all-around final, she was tied for the lead going into the last rotation. However, she ended on vault, her weakest apparatus. In an attempt to get the highest score possible, she attempted a difficult 11⁄2 twisting Yurchenko vault (a 10.0 start value vault), instead of her usual simpler 9.9 start value vault, but faultered on the harder skill. Her low vault score dropped her to sixth place for the individual competition. This was the highest placing out of the Russians, but still shy of a medal. In the event finals, Dina finished fourth on the balance beam and fifth on uneven parallel bars and floor exercise.The Olympics were her last major competition.

Later life

Kochetkova underwent knee surgery in 1997 after her retirement. She lives in Moscow with her husband, working as a personal trainer.

Competitive history

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
Junior
1991	Blume Memorial		7
	GER-USSR Dual Meet		5
	International Junior Championships						4
	European Championships
Senior
1992	CIS Championships		11				5
	CIS Cup		11
	European Championships		12
	European Team Championships
	World Stars		9			4
1993	Chunichi Cup		8
	Medico Cup
	Russian Championships
	Russian Cup
	RUS-ROM-ITA Tri-Meet
	Tokyo Cup				4		4
	World Stars			8
1994	Blume Memorial
	Chunichi Cup		4	5		4	5
	European Championships
	Fukuoka Cup				4	4
	Goodwill Games
	Russian Championships
	Trophee Massilia		24
	World Championships			6
	World Team Championships
	World Stars						5
1995	Cottbus Grand Prix			4			7
	DTB Cup				5	4
	European Cup		9		6
	French International		4	6			5
	Russian Championships			4	8	7
	World Championships	4	8		6	6
	World Stars
1996	Cottbus Grand Prix
	European Championships		5	4	8	7
	French International
	World Championships
	Rome Grand Prix
	Russian Championships		7
	World Stars
	Olympic Games		6		5	4	5

Eponymous skill

Kochetkova has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points.

Apparatus	Name	Description	Difficulty
Balance beam	Kochetkova	Flic-flac with minimum 3⁄4 turn (270°) before hand support	D

See also

• List of Olympic female artistic gymnasts for Russia

External links

• Dina Kochetkova at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Full list of competitive results
• "I did not play with dolls in childhood" Interview from Sovetskiy Sport, March 1998
• Spotlight on Dina Kochetkova