Members of the Oxford Rotary Club were recently treated to a special presentation by Tatiana Gutsu, two-time gold medalist at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
Gutsu, who has been living in Michigan for the past eight years and currently resides in West Bloomfield, announced this past January that she is training for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The champion gymnast from Odessa, Ukraine, is being coached by Jeni M. Ochoa at Elite Gymnastics in Oxford.
Tatiana Gutsu began her gymnastics career at the age of five when she was selected by the Soviet training system. She trained in the Elite Soviet Army Club and the National Ukranian Center until the age of 12 when she moved away from home. At the age of 15, she was selected for the Round Lake Training Center and the Olympic Team.
Gutsu said her first exposure to the Olympics was in those early years. Her father, a railroad worker, had been traveling in Moscow while the Olympics were being held. As a gift to little Tatiana, he brought her a teddy bear with the Olympic colors and a belt featuring the gold rings.
“It touched my heart,” said Gutsu. “I knew what I loved.”
Often called the “painted bird of Odessa,” Gutsu won several awards on her way to the 1992 Bracelona Olympics. She took first team at the 1991 World Championships; first all around at the 1991 European Cup and first all around, first vault and first on the uneven bars at the European Olympics, just to name a few.
At the 1992 Olympics, Gutsu won the gold in all around competition and team. She also received a silver medal on the uneven bars and bronze on the floor exercises. That moment was the first time the Ukranian flag had been raised at the games.
“It was a very proud moment for me,” said Gutsu. “It was a pinnacle moment in my life.”
After the Olympics, Gutsu moved to the Unites States in 1994. After doing some touring and coaching, she settled in the Detroit area in 1996. In 2002, she received her U.S. citizenship, and early in 2003 Gutsu said she contacted Jeni Ochoa to “see if she needed a coach.”
“Jeni encouraged me to train,” explained Gutsu. “She said, ‘Tatiana, why are you not training for the 2004 Olympics?’”
Gutsu said she decided to try for the U.S. Olympic Team that night.
“I just thought ‘So, why not,’” she laughed.
Gutsu, who will be skipping the Olympic qualifiers and going straight to trials, has been training for the past three months. She will have four more months of training before the first trial. She hopes to revive her trademark move – a double layout with a kick in the first rotation – for competition. Gutsu is the only gymnast, male or female, to ever perform the difficult technique.
“It will be much easier for me to get everything back because I already have those skills,” explained Gutsu.
When asked about being older than many of the young women competing for the U.S. Team, Gutsu said she’s not concerned. In fact, she hopes to see an increase in older competitors with “a more mature style.”
“My story is not over, far from it, and there is much I have yet to do,” she said, “and I appreciate all the support I’ve received in this chapter of my life.”