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Tanja Szewczenko

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Tanja Szewczenko
Szewczenko in 2007
Born (1977-07-26) 26 July 1977 (age 47)
Düsseldorf, West Germany
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Figure skating career
CountryGermany
Retired2000
Medal record
Figure skating: Ladies' singles
Representing  Germany
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Chiba Ladies' singles
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Milan Ladies' singles
Grand Prix Final
Silver medal – second place 1997–98 Munich Ladies' singles
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Seoul Ladies' singles

Tanja Szewczenko (born 26 July 1977) is a German former figure skater. She is the 1994 World bronze medalist, 1997 Champions Series Final silver medalist, 1998 European bronze medalist, and 1993 World Junior bronze medalist.

Personal life

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Szewczenko in 1993

Szewczenko was born to Vera Küke, an ethnic German immigrant from the Soviet Union, and a Ukrainian father who left the family when she was two years old.[1]

Competitive career

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Szewczenko won the bronze medal at the 1993 World Junior Championships.[2]

In 1993, at the age of 16, Szewczenko won her first international competition at the Nations Cup in Germany, defeating the reigning world champion Oksana Baiul. A few weeks later, she won her first national title, defeating former Olympic champion Katarina Witt. Szewczenko competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. During a practice session before the long program, she collided with Oksana Baiul, sustaining a bruised right hip and abdomen.[3] She finished 6th at the event.[4] Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championships.[5]

After finishing 6th at the 1996 Worlds, Szewczenko struggled for 18 months with a pair of viral infections which caused her to sleep 18 hours a day.[6] She made a comeback in late 1997, winning on home ice at the 1997 Sparkassen Cup on Ice in Gelsenkirchen, Germany over eventual World champion, Irina Slutskaya. She went on to defeat former World champion Chen Lu and eventual World champion Maria Butyrskaya at the 1997 NHK Trophy in Nagano, Japan, and in doing so, earned a spot to the 1997–98 Champions Series Final in Munich, Germany. She won the silver medal behind American Tara Lipinski. Her tonsils were removed in December 1997.[6]

Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the 1998 European Championships in Milan, Italy.[7] She contracted a severe flu at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and withdrew from the event.[8][9] She finished 9th at the 1998 World Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota a month later.

Szewczenko retired from competitive figure skating in 2000 to concentrate on modelling and acting. She is the last German ladies' singles skater to medal at an ISU Championships.

Later career

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Szewczenko posed for the German edition of Playboy magazine in April 1999 and March 2007. Beginning in 2002, she played the role of Katinka "Kati" Ritter on the German soap opera Unter uns. Her last appearance on the soap was 5 December 2005. From September 2006 until 2009, Szewczenko appeared in the German soap opera Alles was zählt on RTL Television. She played the role of Diana Sommer, an inline courier, who trained as a figure skater alongside the wealthy daughter of a fitness center mogul.[10] Norman Jeschke played her pair skating partner.[10] In January 2009, Szewczenko left the series to return to show skating, joining the Holiday on Ice show with Jeschke.

Personal life

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Szewczenko in 2014

Szewczenko and Norman Jeschke have a daughter who was born in February 2011[11][12] and twin sons who were born in April 2021.[13]

Programs

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Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
1997–1998
1995–1996
1994–1995
1993–1994
  • Ballet Russe
  • Man of La Mancha
1992–1993
  • Ballet Russe

Results

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GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix)

International[14]
Event 92–93 93–94 94–95 95–96 97–98 98–99 99–00
Winter Olympics 6th WD
World Champ. 7th 3rd WD 6th 9th
European Champ. 4th 5th 4th 5th 3rd WD
GP Final 2nd
GP Nations Cup 8th 1st 3rd 5th 1st
GP NHK Trophy 4th 1st
Schäfer Memorial 2nd
Skate Israel 1st
Piruetten 5th
International: Junior[14]
World Junior Champ. 3rd 4th
National[14]
German Champ. 3rd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd
WD = Withdrew

References

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  1. ^ "GS Starportrait: Tanja Szewczenko". GQ (German edition). Archived from the original on 26 November 2012.
  2. ^ "World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Ladies" (PDF). International Skating Union.
  3. ^ Longman, Jere (25 February 1994). "Baiul Is Injured In Skating Collision". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Tanja Szewczenko". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  5. ^ "World Figure Skating Championships: Ladies" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2013.
  6. ^ a b Pucin, Diane (1 February 1998). "Looking For A Gold Medal - And Something More". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 16 June 2014.
  7. ^ "European Figure Skating Championships: Ladies" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2013.
  8. ^ Pucin, Diane (16 February 1998). "Skater Szewczenko Out Of Competition". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 16 June 2014.
  9. ^ Sullivan, Kevin (19 February 1998). "The Flu Plagues Olympics". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Germany's top-ranked figure skater, Tanja Szewczenko, withdrew from the Games before her event started. She had been sick with flu for more than a week and chose to return home to recuperate[…]
  10. ^ a b Elfman, Lois (28 January 2010). "Szewczenko rediscovers her love of skating". icenetwork.com. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  11. ^ "Tanja Szewczenko ist Mama geworden" [Tanja Szewczenko is a mother] (in German). unterhaltung.t-online.de. 26 February 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Tanja Szewczenko: Sie zeigt uns ihr Baby!" [Tanja Szewczenko shows us her baby]. Bunte (in German). 14 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  13. ^ "Tanja Szewczenko bekommt Zwillinge "Hallo, wir sind Leo & Luis!"". Spiegel Panorama. Der Spiegel Online. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  14. ^ a b c "Tanja SZEWCZENKO". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017.
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