Golden Girl | 1992 Olympic Champion Tatiana Gutsu

Tatiana Gutsu is best known for her performances at the 1992 Olympics where she edged out the USA's Shannon Miller by .12 (the smallest margin in Olympic history) to win the gold medal. This came after the coaches made a controversial decision to force Tatiana's teammate, Roza Galieva to claim an injury so Gutsu could compete in the all-around final. She was also a member of the Unified Team, who won gold in their last performance together before the Soviet Union fell. In addition to her two Olympic golds, Tatiana won a silver on bars and a bronze on floor. Tatiana is also the 1992 European Champion on vault, bars, and in the all-around. There's no doubt that Tatiana Gutsu made history for her native Ukraine and will always be remembered for her difficult skills. A few years after the Games, Tatiana moved to the United States and began coaching. Now she is the owner of her own club in hopes of making more dreams come true! We recently visited Tatiana at her gym in Farmington Hills, Michigan to chat about her her Olympic experience, training at Round Lake, what she is up to today, and much more!



Interview Transcription: 

We’ll start by talking about how you got started in gymnastics.

I started gymnastics when I was six years old. I was chosen from a kindergarten back then from my coaches-- my original coaches which were Viktor Dikii and Tamila Evdokimova. And from that day when I was chosen I was interested in gymnastics and I think with my progression and the skills that I was learning or when I was observing the gymnastics-- I was drawn to it.

At what age did you realize you had the potential to make it to the Olympics?

[Laughs] I think it’s hard to say when I was an athlete when I had potential. I think my coach detected that I did have the potential and even talking to them right now, they say that I was the jewel, I was the jewel in their career and you know, it takes two to tango. Their dream and my dream combined together and we had a successful career. All ten years that I was competing, it was very successful.

You moved away from home to train at Round Lake, was it hard to leave your family behind?

Yes it was. At times I was devastated because I was a little girl and at ten years old to move away--far away from your family, parents, sisters and relatives; it was a little bit hard. I was just following my dream. I didn’t know how far my dream would take me, but I was following it. It was tremendous hard work. I mean, we would start practicing at 8:00am and would finish sometimes at 10:00pm, but now I understand the cause. The victory of every single competition that I went to—that is priceless! So you forget about the hard training, you forget about the blisters, you forget about the sweat. The priceless time was when you go to a competition and you’re completing your routines and when you’re standing on the podium—that’s what it’s all about—to be proud of yourself and all the hard training that you have done. Finally the achievement of being rewarded for that were absolutely outstanding feelings.

What was it like training at Round Lake? How many girls did you train with and were you close with them?

It depends which time you take. Before I was chosen, actually my coach fought for me to have a chance to be on the national team. First you have to qualify to the junior national team and if you do really good all year round—and not just one year—if  you complete the whole process of training that goes on in Round Lake and then competitions, you might have a chance to be there. I know for a fact that my two coaches fought for me to be there, just to give me that chance. I remember it was 1988 and the girls just came from the Seoul Olympic Games and my coach fought for me just to try out! I was there for I think September, October, and November—for those three months we had to actually pay from our pocket to be there. So it was challenging for me, it was challenging for them, but I did prove that I deserve to be there—I deserved to be on the national team. In 1989 we actually got invited for the training at Round Lake starting in January.

Do you keep in contact with any of your former teammates or coaches?

I keep in contact with my original coaches every month. With some of the athletes that I grew up with in my hometown of Odessa—I still keep in touch—they are in different parts of the world. With my [Olympic] teammates, some of them I keep in touch with and some of them not.

Going into the 1992 Olympics, what was your overall feeling? Were you well prepared, excited, nervous or a little bit of everything?

[Laughs] It’s a little bit of everything. That particular question I always get from kids when I do my  appearances at schools or when I’m at events, whether it’s a child or an adult, they ask me that question. It’s a little bit of everything. I think I was very prepared. I was prepared all my whole life, I know that for a fact because I was four years old watching the Olympics on TV and telling my parents, “I’m going to be there.” And my parents said, “Okay, then you should relax.” [Laughs]  But who would have known and actually I did achieve that! In school [when the teacher asked “who do you want to be?] I wrote a whole story about who I’m going to be and how I’m going to be. In a child’s state of mind at seven or eight years old, I already knew who I wanted to be. And actually I got a C+ because I wrote I wanted to be Olympic Champion. [Laughs] It is a little bit funny to go back to that because on one side [you have] the coaches who were guiding me all my life to get to the top and then the teachers thinking, ‘oh just a naive little girl who is not sure.’

Can you talk about the team competition and getting your first Olympic gold medal?

It felt like I was flying. We were standing out there and of course there was six of us experiencing the same feelings but I will talk about myself. It felt like I was lifted off the ground. The atmosphere from the people cheering for you and saying, “Bravo” or “Good job,” you can feel the vibe! It’s almost like you’re listening to music and you’re standing closer to the sound and you can feel that vibe. Some music is great and can lift you up and some music is not, but that was just the right chemistry with everything. It was beautiful. It would probably be the same question if I asked you, “Do you believe in magic?” It’s exactly the same thing.

During the team completion you fell from the balance beam and your teammate Roza Gailyeva qualified to the all-around ahead of you. Ultimately you were given a second chance when the coaches forced her to claim an injury. How did you feel in that moment?

I took that very professionally. I didn’t understand the second chance back then—I do understand the second chance now. I do believe that people deserve second chances and I think I did everything that I could to bring my county up proudly, not just USSR--because it was the last moment we competed as USSR and in fact we put the logo for USSR on [our leotard]…it was a team decision to do that, but to be the first Ukrainian girl who rose the flag and the anthem and to have the gold. It was an outstanding moment truly because I think I’m a hero to so many little girls who are very proud of that.

Were you and Roza on good terms following that incident?

We never spoke about that. Being a child and having an adult make that decision—to make a professional decision—It’s not just ‘okay whatever, you’re going to compete.’ It was a professional decision and I think they made the right decision and I will stand by those words. I will stand by what I have achieved and what I have done because of all the hard training and the hours and the nights and the traveling and giving up [so much]…it was a well-deserved Olympic gold.

Can you describe that moment you saw your name on top of the scoreboard and realized you had won?

I didn’t! I didn’t know. It was hard to believe. During the competition I knew the routines had been done many many times, we’re not talking about hundreds or one thousand, we’re talking about thousands of times where the skills were repeated over and over again, so you master the move. And it’s not just the skills, it’s the preparation and how you step out on the floor and how you present yourself. Honestly, I didn’t know that I had won. I went and I did my best but I didn’t know that I was that close. To hear my name ‘Tatiana Gustu’…I still have goosebumps when I look on YouTube at my performance. It was amazing!

How did your country react to your success?

When we came back to Ukraine, we were celebrated with the president of Ukraine [and he] gave us the most beautiful presents so we could actually go on with our lives. Because we did such a tremendous job and hard work for our country, our country rewarded us back. I was driving a brand new Ukrainian car and it was great! Actually seeing the president and warm wishes and congratulations [from him]…it was very nice. You know, I was fifteen years old and he’s the ruler of the Ukraine. [Laughs] It’s nice to be recognized for something that you do for your country. I know that I was put in the Ukrainian history book so kids from 8^th grade to 12^th grade will know their heroes. In my hometown of Odessa we celebrated. I had a whole band waiting for me to appear from the train and there were flowers from strangers and kids. It was beautiful, it was truly beautiful to see that I wasn’t alone out there doing that. It was pleasant to see that the whole country was actually cheering for me. And still know when I go home, people say “Hello, it’s very nice to see you.” It’s very good to give the knowledge back now to kids or to the people.

Can you talk about the fall of the Soviet Union and how that affected you?

You know, it’s hard to say how it did affect me. I wanted to continue with gymnastics and for a young athlete just being on top of the world and winning the biggest and most prestigious award in my career, it was a little bit hard for me because at that point I didn’t know which direction to go—although I did have my coaches by my side. You know, sometimes I look back even with Nadia Comaneci [who] made history in her sports career when she won the 1976 Olympic Games and then some of the competitions after the Olympics—it wasn’t that great. It’s not because we lost our mastership or something in gymnastics, it’s because you put so much energy into it—it’s like athlete energy plus the universe, coaches and positive surroundings. For me, I felt like I accomplished everything in 1992. I felt like I accomplished everything that I could—and I did. And I stopped. I stopped for that reason because I didn’t have to prove anything to anybody because I had already achieved that award.

Besides for the Olympics, what were some of the other highlights of your gymnastics career?

My proudest moment in gymnastics was I think every competition that I went to. I have not taken [it] for granted because every single competition or every single country that I went to, I gave all my best. I’m not talking 100%, it’s a trillion or billion percent of what you love to do. When you love what you do, you give it your all. It’s not just the energy, it’s the soul, it’s the heart, and everything that you got. I would say that I’m very proud of every single competition that I went to from my very first one to my very last one.

You were known for having very difficult skills, was that something that came natural to you?

That…I have to say credit to my coach because he was bringing the ideas of what we could try and we tried everything! Everything that’s out there—I’m not comparing to gymnastics now—although some of the skills we were working on, it was just not ready to put it in. Like double layout with a full twist—we were working on that or a triple tuck—we were working on that too. It was just not meant to be to put it there. That’s why the unique [combination] of athlete and coach just came together like a puzzle. We were exploring to see what the options are out there. We were taking one step at a time but it was adventurous because, yes I was scared and terrified, yet it was exciting because I knew that I was the only one that was working on those skills. Not just at Round Lake, but there was other centers in Moscow that I worked and I had seen my competitors and the girls who were working on the harder skills and I wanted to do better. I think that’s why we discovered some of the skills that had never been out there. I know that in the international category, I was the first one to do the full twist standing on the balance beam. Same as a very attractive element—a double layout split out. I know some of the girls tried to do it 1996 or 2000 off the bars and it was kind of faded out, but yes—the original—it was me who did that.

Can you talk about your teammate from the 1992 Olympics, Oksana Chusovitina who is going for her 7^th Olympics. Is that weird for you to see somebody who you competed with still competing?

It’s not weird at all. You know, she’s a very strong minded girl and I seen her when I training with her, I seen that. It’s something very unique and special about that girl and athlete. I am ecstatic to see her out there because she’s simply phenomenal.

Come you talk about what inspired you to make your own comeback in 2003?

I think I missed it. I missed the competing and I missed [the feeling of performing]. I think I was drawn to the feelings because the adrenaline is crazy when you actually go and perform from the moment you’re raising your hand. There’s so much focus out there as an athlete to make sure that you perform and do everything well, so I think I missed that. When I started training I think I just didn’t have the right components of support to continue [my comeback]. After several months I actually stopped [training] and the missing went away. I think with that, my passion to coaching went much higher than it was. I’m appreciative of that time because I think I needed that. With not proper support or guidance as an athlete you can be misled.

After having spent so much of your life in the gym, was it hard to finally retire?

Not anymore. I think when I was going through my teenage years and discovering a new country, it put my thoughts back. When I came to the United States I was seventeen years old and I had to learn English and I had to explore the life—just everyday life—or how to communicate, so it kind of took me back. I appreciate that time. I don’t miss it, I wouldn’t change anything. I think everything happens for a good reason and my reason was that.

Can you talk about your journey to the United States and how you eventually settled here in Michigan?

Well I was invited here in 1994 with my coaches who came here to help some people open a club. I think I was on the peak of the teenage years and I wanted to explore because the first time I came to the United States was back in 1990 and I just simply fell in love and said “Okay, one day I’m going to be here.” Soon enough, in 1994 we were invited here and then I kind of went to find my journey. I worked for many prestigious clubs and companies—not just gymnastics, but I worked with cheer and dance companies. I wanted to explore myself and see where I could find me. It’s good to have a background with the Olympics, Worlds, and European Championships on my resume, but what about me as an individual?  What do I do? How do I find what I love to do? I started coaching here and there and I finally found my passion. My job is the best job in the world, I work with kids! I can share my knowledge not just with kids but with parents. I get so many questions every single day, “how was that?” or “how did you feel when you went there?” It’s priceless. I am more than open to wanting to give that information because you never know, I have my athletes and my youngsters and every practice they say, “I want to go to the Olympics.” I am here, I am here to guide you there. I don’t know, I don’t have a magic ball, I cannot see the future. All I know is that if I work hard and with the right guidance for the youngsters and their future—I am here.

Do you still follow the sport at the elite level or college? Do you go to any competitions?

Yes. We started going to the Big M [University of Michigan] competitions more this year. I just wanted to see the difference from the elite level competition and college level competition. When our team is traveling, it’s one standard competition, but to see elite or college, it’s an absolutely different atmosphere. And the college atmosphere is absolutely outstanding! I went and I was like, “Wow!” [Laughs] I was sitting there like, “Big 10 for everyone!” [Laughs] It’s good to explore something. So I’m not just having the mindset for elite. You have to see everything and you have to explore and open your mind to everything that’s out there. Although gymnastics is my life—I live, I breathe, I eat, and everything is about gymnastics—but there is exploring of other sports.

So for the Olympics coming up, who are you cheering for?

I’m not choosing sides! Whoever is going to go there and whoever is competing, best of luck! It’s a once in a lifetime experience and if they can enjoy that time—go for it. Because who knows, maybe it’s going to be their first or maybe it’s going to be their seventh.

What have you been up to lately?

Well my company has been open for six months now and I’m thrilled about that. I can’t be more ecstatic—this is my dream and this was my goal! I completed my goal and now it’s going to be a new set of goals. This year we’re starting from level 1 to level 4 and I think it’s going to give us time and ability to build the empire of Tatiana Gutsu Gymnastics Academy. We have great talented kids coming in and I’m more than happy because I am the head coach and the owner of the company. I absolutely love every single minute that I am here because I’m here at 7am and I leave at 10pm. But it’s mine and I have to nourish it because every little seed that you plant needs nourishment—and I need to nourish my little seed.

What advice would you give to young gymnast who want to be like you someday?

Follow your dreams and don’t be afraid. Even sometimes when they’re learning new skills it’s terrifying, but you have to find that bravery inside of you. Don’t be afraid to try new things. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself because that’s when your gong to master the skills to be the best.