Ludmila Ezhova

Ludmila Ezhova
— Gymnast —
Full name	Ludmilla Ezhova Grebenkova
Alternative name(s)	Lyudmila Grebenkova, Lyudmila Yezhova
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1982-03-04) March 4, 1982
Height	4'10"
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Head coach(es)	Leonid Arkaev
Retired	2008
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 0 1 World Championships 0 2 2 European Championships 2 1 1 Representing Russia Olympic Games 2004 Athens Team World Championships 2001 Ghent Team 2001 Ghent Balance beam 2002 Debrecen Uneven bars 2003 Anaheim Balance beam European Championships 2002 Patras Team 2002 Patras Balance beam 1998 St. Petersburg Team 1998 St. Petersburg Balance beam

Ludmila Ezhova Grebenkova, (Russian: Людмила Ежова Гребенкова (Lyudmila Yezhova Grebenkova), born 4 March 1982) is a Russian former competitive gymnast. She won bronze in the team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics and four medals at the World Championships.

Career

Ezhova was a mainstay of the Russian team from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. She also represented Russia at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where she competed only balance beam. She was particularly noted for her work on balance beam where she was a four (4) time world and European medalist, including a gold medal. Her balance beam routines were characterized by a wide array of difficult acrobatic skills connected in immediate, unusual sequencing.

In 1997, Ezhova placed 8th in the all-around at Russian Championships. The following year she placed 10th in the all-around at the Russian Cup. In the Spring of 1998, she competed on uneven bars and balance beam in the team final at European Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Individually, she earned a bronze medal on balance beam, tying with Romanian Simona Amanar. At the 1999 Russian Cup, Ezhova placed 9th in the all-around. Ezhova was not named to the World Team for Russia. In 2000 she was not named to the Russian team for European Championships or the Olympic Games.

Ezhova made the team for the 2001 World Championships in Ghent, Belgium. She competed on uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise in the team final and helped earn the silver medal. Individually she earned a silver medal on balance beam. At the 2002 European Championships in Patras, Greece, she helped the Russian team earn the gold medal by competing on uneven bars and balance beam. Individually she won the gold medal on balance beam and placed 7th on the uneven bars. That same year she made her second World Championships team. There was no team competition at the 2002 World Championships but she earned a bronze medal on uneven bars and placed 6th place on balance beam. In 2003, Ezhova placed 13th at the Russian Championships. At the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, California, the Russian team of which Ezhova was a member, greatly faltered and placed 6th in the team competition. Individually, however, she earned a bronze medal on balance beam. Ezhova did not compete on the European Championships team. Later that year she made the team for the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. At the Olympics, Ezhova competed on uneven bars and balance beam in both qualifications and the team final. The Russian team earned a bronze medal in the team competition. Individually, Ezhova did not advance to any individual finals.

In 2008 Grebenkova returned to gymnastics to compete at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Here she competed for the team on balance beam. The Russian team placed 4th in the team final.

Eponymous skills

Uneven bars: Swing backward - release with half turn in flight between bars to catch low bar (D)

Post-retirement

Ezhova-Grebenkova is a team and rec coach at Southeastern Gymnastics in Charlotte, North Carolina, along with her husband Georgy Grebenkov, also a former Olympic gymnast.

Competitive history

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
1998	European Championships	2nd				3rd
2001	World Championships	2nd	26th		6th	2nd
2002	European Championships	1st			7th	1st	2nd
	World Championships				3rd	6th
2003	World Championships	6th				3rd
2004	Olympic Games	3rd
	World Cup Final				6th	5th
2006	World Cup Final				8th	8th
2008	Olympic Games	4th

Year	Competition description	Location	Apparatus	Rank-Final	Score-Final	Rank-Qualifying	Score-Qualifying
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing	Team	4	180.625	3	244.400
			Balance beam			37	14.600
2006	World Cup Final	Sao Paulo	Unevne bars	8	9.950
			Balance beam	8	14.200
2004	World Cup Final	Birmingham	Uneven bars	6	9.350
			Balance beam	5	9.437
	Olympic Games	Athens	Team	3	113.235	4	149.420
			Uneven bars			23	9.475
			Balance beam			15	9.462
2003	World Championships	Anaheim	Team	6	108.985	5	145.572
			Uneven bars			94	8.537
			Balance beam	3	9.550	6	9.425
2002	World Championships	Debrecen	Uneven bars	3	9.375
			Uneven bars (Semi-final)			3	9.512
			Uneven bars (Qualification)			3	9.575
			Balance beam	6	8.975
			Balance beam (Semi-final)			2	9.612
			Balance beam (Qualification)			2	9.562
	European Championships	Patras	Team	1	111.833
			Uneven bars	7	8.700	3	9.437
			Balance beam	1	9.562	1	9.625
2001	World Championships	Ghent	Team	2	109.023	4	144.134
			All-around	26	34.774	10	36.011
			Vault			91	8.612
			Uneven bars	6	8.625	4	9.300
			Balance beam	2	9.650	1	9.612
			Floor exercise			67	8.487
1998	European Championships	Saint Petersburg	Team	2	112.720
			Uneven bars			23	9.250
			Balance beam	3	9.662	4	9.687

See also

• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Russia

References

• [1]
• [2]
• [3]

External links

• Ludmila Ezhova at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
• http://www.intlgymnast.com/spotlight/yezhova.html
• http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/russian_gymnastics/ezhovapage.html&date=2009-10-26+01:56:11
• http://www.southeasterngymnastics.com/?page_id=104