| Viktoria Karpenko | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Viktoria Karpenko | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented | Bulgaria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former country(ies) represented | Ukraine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 15, 1981 Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
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| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior International | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach(es) | Oleg Ostapenko | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Viktoria Karpenko (Виктория Карпенко, born on March 15, 1981 in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR), is a World Championships silver medalist and 2000 Olympian in artistic gymnastics. She began gymnastics at the age of four and went on to become the Ukrainian National Champion in 1996.[1]
Karpenko made her world debut at the 1995 World Championships in Sabae, Japan with strong performances, however was overshadowed by veteran gymnasts and did not medal. Shortly after, she injured her hamstring and was unable to compete in the 1996 Olympic Games. The following year, she broke a finger during training and was forced to watch the 1997 World Championships from the stands.
In March of 1998 she surprised coaches by winning the American Cup against U.S. hopefuls Vanessa Atler and Kristen Maloney. In April she placed second in the Uneven Bars final behind five-time World Uneven Bars Champion Svetlana Khorkina at the European Championships. At the 1999 World Championships, a healthy Karpenko performed with ease and placed second in the All Around competition.[2]
Things were looking great for Karpenko in early 2000, as she won preliminaries at the prestigious European Championships in Paris. Ending up third in the All-Around, she also grabbed a silver on the uneven bars, and tied for another second place finish on floor exercise in event finals. Despite these accomplishments, Karpenko is notoriously known for her performance at the 2000 Olympic Games the following year. A favorite for the All Around title, Karpenko was in first place going into the final rotation. As she finished her first pass on floor, she stubbed her toe, tripped, and fell out of bounds. She subsequently received a score of 8.725 and dropped 12th place.
Karpenko moved to Bulgaria in June 2002, and began two short lived comebacks in both 2003 and 2006, competing for Bulgaria. Marred by injury, she's never quite retained her form, or individual results.[3]