Yulia Korostelyova was born November 24, 1980, in Moscow Russia.
Yulia the same as all the other top gymnasts was picked to train when she was 5. Since then she has progressed from a shy frail little girl, into one of Russia's leading hopes in gymnastics for the future.
Yulia made the Junior Russian team in 1995 - but didn't really get a lot of international exposure, she still competed in a few minor competitions however, but 1996 was to be a bigger year for her...
In 1996 Yulia was attempting to qualify for the Olympics. Unfortunetly with limited international experience, she just fell short of making the team to Atlanta. Here Yulia was dissapointed and commented that things just didn't fall into place! But there is always 2000!!
Yulia spent the rest of 1996 training hard so she was ready for the next big competitions. Her training paid off, she started the season with a *bang* and won 2 gold medals at the Chunichi Cup. This was more than even Olympic Gold medalist Svetlana Khorkina.
Her luck continues into 1997 where she finished in second place at the Russian champs (after only Khorkina), also winning her favourite event - floor exersize.
Unfortunetly for Yulia, she injured her elbow and was unable to compete in Lausanne at the world championships. This was a huge dissapointment because she was being groomed for this competition.
Shy and steady is Yulia, but never short of a smile. Her best friend is 1996 Olympic team Silver medalist Oksana Lyapina. Her coach is Leonid Arkayev and the Kuznyetsov's
Lets hope Yulia makes the 2000 Olympic team!!
© 1997 [email protected]
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