Tanja Szewczenko

Tanja Szewczenko (born 26 July 1977) is a German former figure skater and actress. She is the 1994 World bronze medalist, 1997 Champions Series Final silver medalist, 1998 European bronze medalist, and 1993 World Junior bronze medalist.

Tanja Szewczenko
Szewczenko in 2007
Personal information
Country representedGermany
Born (1977-07-26) 26 July 1977
Düsseldorf, West Germany
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Retired2000
Medal record
Figure skating: Ladies' singles
Representing  Germany
World Championships
1994 ChibaLadies' singles
European Championships
1998 MilanLadies' singles
Grand Prix Final
1997–98 MunichLadies' singles
World Junior Championships
1993 SeoulLadies' singles

Personal life
Szewczenko in 2014

Szewczenko was born to Vera Küke, an ethnic German immigrant from the Soviet Union, and a Ukrainian father who left the family when she was two years old.[1] She and Norman Jeschke have a daughter, Jona Valentina, who was born in February 2011.[2][3]

Competitive career

Szewczenko won the bronze medal at the 1993 World Junior Championships.[4]

In 1993, at the age of 16, Szewczenko won her first international competition at the Nations Cup in Germany, defeating the reigning world champion Oksana Baiul. A few weeks later, she won her first national title, defeating former Olympic champion Katarina Witt. Szewczenko competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. During a practice session before the long program, she collided with Oksana Baiul, sustaining a bruised right hip and abdomen.[5] She finished 6th at the event.[6] Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championships.[7]

After finishing 6th at the 1996 Worlds, Szewczenko struggled for 18 months with a pair of viral infections which caused her to sleep 18 hours a day.[8] She made a comeback in late 1997, winning on home ice at the 1997 Sparkassen Cup on Ice in Gelsenkirchen, Germany over eventual World champion, Irina Slutskaya. She went on to defeat former World champion Chen Lu and eventual World champion Maria Butyrskaya at the 1997 NHK Trophy in Nagano, Japan, and in doing so, earned a spot to the 1997–98 Champions Series Final in Munich, Germany. She won the silver medal behind American Tara Lipinski. Her tonsils were removed in December 1997.[8]

Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the 1998 European Championships in Milan, Italy.[9] She contracted a severe flu at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and withdrew from the event.[10][11] She finished 9th at the 1998 World Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota a month later.

Szewczenko retired from competitive figure skating in 2000 to concentrate on modelling and acting. She is the last German ladies' singles skater to medal at an ISU Championships.

Later career

Szewczenko posed for the German edition of Playboy magazine in April 1999 and March 2007. Beginning in 2002, she played the role of Katinka "Kati" Ritter on the German soap opera Unter uns. Her last appearance on the soap was 5 December 2005. From September 2006 until 2009, Szewczenko appeared in the German soap opera Alles was zählt on RTL Television. She played the role of Diana Sommer, an inline courier, who trained as a figure skater alongside the wealthy daughter of a fitness center mogul.[12] Norman Jeschke played her pair skating partner.[12] In January 2009, Szewczenko left the series to return to show skating, joining the Holiday on Ice show with Jeschke.

Programs
Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
1997–1998
    1995–1996
      1994–1995
        1993–1994
        • Ballet Russe
        • Man of La Mancha
          1992–1993
          • Ballet Russe

            Results

            GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix)

            International[13]
            Event 92–93 93–94 94–95 95–96 97–98 98–99 99–00
            Winter Olympics6thWD
            World Champ.7th3rdWD6th9th
            European Champ.4th5th4th5th3rdWD
            GP Final2nd
            GP Nations Cup8th1st3rd5th1st
            GP NHK Trophy4th1st
            Schäfer Memorial2nd
            Skate Israel1st
            Piruetten5th
            International: Junior[13]
            World Junior Champ.3rd4th
            National[13]
            German Champ.3rd1st1st2nd1st2nd3rd
            WD = Withdrew

            References
            1. "GS Starportrait: Tanja Szewczenko". GQ (German edition). Archived from the original on 26 November 2012.
            2. "Tanja Szewczenko ist Mama geworden" [Tanja Szewczenko is a mother] (in German). unterhaltung.t-online.de. 26 February 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
            3. "Tanja Szewczenko: Sie zeigt uns ihr Baby!" [Tanja Szewczenko shows us her baby]. Bunte (in German). 14 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
            4. "World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Ladies" (PDF). International Skating Union.
            5. Longman, Jere (25 February 1994). "Baiul Is Injured In Skating Collision". The New York Times.
            6. "Tanja Szewczenko". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
            7. "World Figure Skating Championships: Ladies" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2013.
            8. Pucin, Diane (1 February 1998). "Looking For A Gold Medal - And Something More". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
            9. "European Figure Skating Championships: Ladies" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2013.
            10. Pucin, Diane (16 February 1998). "Skater Szewczenko Out Of Competition". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
            11. Sullivan, Kevin (19 February 1998). "The Flu Plagues Olympics". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Germany's top-ranked figure skater, Tanja Szewczenko, withdrew from the Games before her event started. She had been sick with flu for more than a week and chose to return home to recuperate[…]
            12. Elfman, Lois (28 January 2010). "Szewczenko rediscovers her love of skating". icenetwork.com. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
            13. "Tanja SZEWCZENKO". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

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