Tanja Szewczenko Explained

Tanja Szewczenko
Country:Germany
Birth Date:26 July 1977
Birth Place:Düsseldorf, West Germany
Retired:2000
Show-Medals:no

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

Personal life

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.

Competitive career

Szewczenko won the bronze medal at the 1993 World Junior Championships.

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. She finished 6th at the event. Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championships.

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. 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.

Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the 1998 European Championships in Milan, Italy. She contracted a severe flu at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and withdrew from the event. 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. Norman Jeschke played her pair skating partner. In January 2009, Szewczenko left the series to return to show skating, joining the Holiday on Ice show with Jeschke.

Personal life

Szewczenko and Norman Jeschke have a daughter who was born in February 2011 and twin sons who were born in April 2021.[1]

Programs

SeasonShort programFree skatingExhibition
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
Event93–9494–9595–9697–9898–99
align=left 6th WD
align=left 7th bgcolor=cc9966 3rd WD 6th 9th
align=left 4th 5th 4th 5th bgcolor=cc9966 3rd WD
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left 8th bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=cc9966 3rd 5th bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left 4th bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left bgcolor=silver 2nd
align=left bgcolor=gold 1st
align=left 5th
International: Junior
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd 4th
National
align=left bgcolor=cc9966 3rd bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=gold 1st bgcolor=silver 2nd bgcolor=cc9966 3rd
WD = Withdrew

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tanja Szewczenko bekommt Zwillinge "Hallo, wir sind Leo & Luis!" . 29 April 2021 . Spiegel Panorama . Der Spiegel Online . 29 April 2021 .