The most decorated Russian gymnast was Anna Kovalyova who won gold in the all-around and vault as well as a silver on beam and a bronze in the floor exercise. A year later she would become the Junior European All-Around but as a senior, she would have a quiet participation at the 1999 World Championships before retiring. Watch her 1998 American Cup beam, she had a fall but it was an interesting routine.
The second most decorated gymnast for Rusisa was Ludmilla Ezhova with gold on beam and silver in the all-around and floor. A year later, as a senior, Ludmilla would win beam bronze at the 1998 Europeans and in 2002 she would be the European beam champion. So, now you know Ludmilla’s beam domination started at EYOF.
The third Russian star was Yelena Zamolodchikova who won bronze on vault. We all know she upgraded that to Olympic Vault Gold in Sydney 2000. Another big name from the Sydney Olympics had her start in EYOF and it was Maria Olaru who collected a medal of each color with gold on Floor, silver on vault and bronze on beam.
Interestingly, this EYOF saw the first stars that were not Russian, Ukranian or Romanian. For Italy, Martina Bremini won a silver on bars while Adriana Crisci won bronze in the all-around. For Great Britain, Lisa Mason won bronze on bars.
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