Lilia Alexandrovna Podkopayeva was born on August 15, 1978 in Donetsk.
Gymnastics career
Podkopayeva was introduced to gymnastics at the age of five by her grandmother. As a junior, before the breakup of the Soviet Union, she briefly trained at the Soviets' renowned Round Lake gymnastics facility. At the 1996 Olympics, Russian (and former Soviet) head coach Leonid Arkaev noted that Podkopayeva was the gymnast with whom he most missed working. In Ukraine, Podkopayeva trained at the National Training Center in Kiev under the tutelage of former European, World and Olympic gold medalist Ludmilla Tourischeva.
Podkopayeva made her senior international debut in 1993. Only 14 at that year's World Championships, she placed 16th in the all-around. She qualified for the vault final, but, clearly disoriented and overwhelmed, crashed on her first attempt and finished last.
In 1994, Podkopayeva's competitive fortunes improved immensely. At the 1994 World Championships, she finished sixth in the all-around--a ten place improvement from the previous year--and won a silver medal on the balance beam. At the European Championships, she earned four medals, becoming the European Champion on floor exercise, placing second on the beam, and winning bronze medals in the vault and team events. She also qualified for the all-around and the uneven bars, where she placed fifth and sixth, respectively. Podkopayeva also did well at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, where she won the vault title, placed 4th in the all-around, won a silver medal with the Ukranian team and a second silver on floor.
Podkpopayeva competed in the 1995 World Championships with a new set of routines and an optimum physical condition. Due to her past inconsistencies, she was widely considered to be an underdog. However, while other more decorated gymnasts faltered, Podkopayeva had the meet of her life, winning the all-around title. She beat Svetlana Khorkina of Russia and Lavinia Milosovici of Romania into second and third place. In the event finals Lilia proved her all-around win had not been a fluke, taking another gold medal on the vault and silvers on the uneven bars and the beam. Her contributions in the team competition also helped the Ukrainians to a fifth place finish, allowing them to qualify a full team to the 1996 Olympic Games.
In early 1996, Podkopayeva was seriously injured when she fell from the beam in practice, breaking one rib and fracturing another. Not much was made of this injury, however, and she recovered sufficiently to win three gold medals at the 1996 European Championships in the all-around, bars and floor finals. In the all-around, Lila pushed her childhood idol Svetlana Boginskaya into second place. She also won a bronze on the vault.
As the defending World and European Champion, Podkopayeva was a favorite at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In the team competition, on every event except optional vault, she posted the highest scores of the Ukrainian team, helping them to a fifth-place finish. She qualified in first place to the all-around final, where she had a strong performance and won the gold medal. In doing so, she became the first female gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title as a defending World Champion since Ludmilla Tourischeva in 1972. In addition, Podkopayeva also became the first female gymnast since Tourischeva to hold the European, World, and Olympic all-around titles at the same time. She also became the first, and to date, only, Olympic all-around champion to come from a team that finished outside the medals. She dedicated her title to her beloved grandmother, who had died just three weeks prior to the Olympics. Podkopayeva won a second gold medal in the floor exercise final and a silver on the beam.
Podkopayeva originally intended to continue competing after the 1996 Olympics and was a part of the Ukrainian team at the 1997 Worlds, however, injuries forced her to sit out Worlds and to retire.
Life after gymnastics
Podkopayeva is currently the Ukrainian United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS. She is married to Ukrainian businessman Timofei Nagorny. They are the parents of two children: Vadim, adopted in Ukraine in July 2006; and Karolina, born in November of the same year.
Podkopyeva is still actively involved with the sport of gymnastics, and is Ukraine's Ambassador of Sport to the Council of Europe. She was certified as an international brevet judge in 2004, and also coaches extensively in the U.S. and Ukraine. In Ukraine, Podkopayeva founded the Golden Lily tournament. The event, started in 2002, has evolved from an international gymnastics competition to a gala exhibition. She has additionally worked as a television personality, hosting a show entitled "Aerobics for Champions."
In 2007, she appeared on the Ukrainian version of Dancing With the Stars.