Evgenia Pavlina

Evgenia Pavlina (born 20 July 1978) is a former Belarusian rhythmic gymnast who competed as an individual. She was born in Minsk, Belarus.

Career

Pavlina started gymnastics at the age of 6 with her first coach Anna Baranova. From age 15 she trained 48 hours per week at club Dynamo Minsk with Belarusian coaches Galina Krylenko and Natalia Stepanova. Pavlina made her senior debut at the 1993 Medico Cup in Austria, where she placed 3rd in the all-around and took two more bronze medals with clubs and ribbon in the final events.

Later that year, her teammate Larissa Lukyanenko broke her ankle in training. At 15 years old, Pavlina was called upon to replace Lukyanenko in the 1993 World Championships. She helped the Belarusian team place 5th in the team event. Pavlina was not chosen for the 1996 Belarusian Olympic Team, but she did compete in most major international events that year.

After the retirement of Lukyanenko, Pavlina emerged as one of the best Belarusian gymnasts. At the 1997 Schmiden International, she won the all-around silver as well as all four apparatus final golds. At the Derjugina Cup, she also earned a pair of bronze medals for the all-around and rope. At the Gymnastics Masters competition in Germany, she won medals in all four apparatus finals: silver with hoop, bronze with ball, and gold with clubs and ribbon. With Tatiana Ogrizko's retirement, she became the top Belarusian gymnast. She won the silver medal at the 1998 European Championships in the all-around, as well as a gold in the ribbon final and the team event. She also finished 3rd in the all-around at the 1998 Goodwill Games.

Although Pavlina continued to compete at major international competitions in 1999, she had begun to be eclipsed by teammate Yulia Raskina. She retired from the sport by that same year.