Irina Deriugina

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Ivanivna and the family name is Deriugina.

Irina Ivanivna Deriugina (Ukrainian: Іри́на Іва́нівна Дерю́ґіна; born 11 January 1958) is a former Soviet individual rhythmic gymnast from Ukraine and Ukrainian coach in rhythmic gymnastics. She is the only Soviet rhythmic gymnast to win two all-around world titles, which she won in 1977 and 1979. Her mother, Albina, was her coach. Her success influenced the further development of rhythmic gymnastics in Kyiv.

Irina Deriugina
Deriugina in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Irina Ivanivna Deriugina
Former countries represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1958-01-11) 11 January 1958 Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Hometown	Kyiv
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Gym	Deriugins School
Head coach(es)	Albina Deriugina
Retired	yes
Medal record Representing Soviet Union World Championships 1977 Basel All-Around 1977 Basel Ribbon 1979 London All-Around 1979 London Clubs 1977 Basel Hoop 1977 Basel Ball 1979 London Ribbon 1979 London Ball European Championships 1978 Madrid Ball 1978 Madrid All-around 1978 Madrid Rope 1978 Madrid Ribbon

Career

Deriugina was born in a family of Ukrainian athletes from Eastern Ukraine, a female gymnast, Albina Deriugina, and a pentathlon athlete, Ivan Deriuhin. At age ten in 1968, Deriugina entered the National Ballet School. From 1976 to 1980 she was a student of the Kyiv National Institute of Physical Culture. Deriugina was a member of the Soviet rhythmic gymnastics squad from 1972 until her retirement from the sport in 1982. She was then appointed the Ukrainian national coach.

Deriugina was in charge of the rhythmic gymnastics technical organizing committee as competition director from 1988 to 1992. At her Kyiv school, which she ran with her mother until Albina Deriugina's death, she trains forty high level gymnasts. Two former gymnasts have alleged that conditions at the school were abusive. Since 1992, they also organize an annual rhythmic tournament, the Deriugina Cup.

Deriugina was a judge at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. She was involved in a large judging scandal that took place at the 2000 European Championships in Zaragoza, Spain. Video was used to prove that she and five other judges, Natalia Stepanova (Belarus), Gabriele Stummer (Austria), Galina Marjina (Latvia), Ursula Sohlenkamp (Germany) and Natalia Lashtsinkaya (Russia), were guilty of discriminating against Olena Vitrychenko of Ukraine, in comparison to scores given to other gymnasts. In the end, the six guilty judges were suspended for one year and they were excluded from the judging course in Rome. For the 2000 Sydney Olympics, those countries had to choose another judge who met the requirements of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. This was the first time in the sport's history that such massive inappropriate behaviour was documented and penalized.

Personal life

Deriugina was married to Oleh Blokhin, a Ukrainian football striker and coach who was European Footballer of the Year in 1975. They have a daughter together named Iryna Blokhina, who is a pop artist socialite and a choreographer for the Deriugins' School's students.

External links

• Irina Derugina at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Image Gallery from Ukraine RG at the Wayback Machine (archived December 2, 2008)