Tatyana Ovechkina
Personal information
Born (1950-03-19) 19 March 1950
Moscow, Soviet Union
NationalitySoviet / Russian
Listed height174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Listed weight69 kg (152 lb)
PositionPoint guard
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Women's Basketball
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal Team
Gold medal – first place 1980 Moscow Team

Tatyana Nikolaevna Ovechkina (Russian: Татьяна Николаевна Овечкина, мордовка по национальности; maiden name: Kabayeva;[1] born 19 March 1950) is a former Soviet Russian basketball player who played for a national team that won two Olympic gold medals, the 1975 World Championships and six European Championships. Today, she runs the Russia women's national basketball program.

Early life

Ovechkina was born in Moscow, Soviet Union.[1][2] At age 7, she was walking home from school when an automobile struck her and mangled her right leg. She spent a year in the hospital recovering.[1]

Career

At 16, Tatyana joined Dynamo Moscow's women's basketball team and soon became its star. At age 19, she was named team captain and played in the club for 13 more years.

Ovechkina won two Olympic gold medals with the USSR team, in 1976 and 1980,[1] and never lost a game in an official international competition. She also won the 1975 World Championship, six European Championships (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980), and the 1977 Summer Universiade.[1] She retired from the national team at age 30.

She was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor in 1976 and the Order of Friendship of Peoples in 1980.[1] In recent years, she was overwhelmingly chosen the 20th century's best female point guard by the readers of the Sport-Express, an Eastern European daily newspaper.[1] Currently, she is a candidate for induction into the FIBA Hall of Fame.[3]

Personal life

Ovechkina is the mother of professional ice hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, who plays in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals.[1] He wears #8 in honor of Tatyana, who wore #8 during her basketball career.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Farber, Michael (25 February 2008). "Alex Ovechkin's mother Tatyana gets him record NHL contract". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  2. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Tatyana Ovechkina". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Oland, Ian (19 February 2010). "The Great Mother of the Great 8". Russian Machine Never Breaks. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
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