Tanja Szewczenko
Szewczenko in 2007
Born	(1977-07-26)26 July 1977 (age 47) Düsseldorf, West Germany
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Germany
Retired	2000
Medal record Figure skating:Ladies' singles Representing Germany World Championships 1994 Chiba Ladies' singles European Championships 1998 Milan Ladies' singles Grand Prix Final 1997–98 Munich Ladies' singles World Junior Championships 1993 Seoul Ladies' singles

Tanja Szewczenko (born 26 July 1977) is a German formerfigure skater. She is the1994 World bronze medalist,1997 Champions Series Final silver medalist,1998 European bronze medalist, and1993 World Junior bronze medalist.

Szewczenko was born to Vera Küke, anethnic German immigrant from the Soviet Union, and a Ukrainian father who left the family when she was two years old.^[1]

Szewczenko won the bronze medal at the 1993World Junior Championships.^[2]

In 1993, at the age of 16, Szewczenko won her first international competition at theNations Cup in Germany, defeating the reigning world championOksana Baiul. A few weeks later, she won her first national title, defeating former Olympic championKatarina Witt. Szewczenko competed at the1994 Winter Olympics inLillehammer, Norway. During a practice session before the long program, she collided withOksana Baiul, sustaining a bruised right hip and abdomen.^[3] She finished 6th at the event.^[4] Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the1994 World Championships.^[5]

After finishing 6th at the1996 Worlds, Szewczenko struggled for 18 months with a pair of viral infections which caused her to sleep 18 hours a day.^[6] She made a comeback in late 1997, winning on home ice at the1997 Sparkassen Cup on Ice inGelsenkirchen, Germany over eventual World champion,Irina Slutskaya. She went on to defeat former World championChen Lu and eventual World championMaria Butyrskaya at the1997 NHK Trophy inNagano, Japan, and in doing so, earned a spot to the1997–98 Champions Series Final inMunich,Germany. She won the silver medal behind AmericanTara Lipinski. Her tonsils were removed in December 1997.^[6]

Szewczenko won a bronze medal at the1998 European Championships inMilan, Italy.^[7] She contracted a severe flu at the1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, and withdrew from the event.^[8][9] She finished 9th at the1998 World Championships inMinneapolis,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.

Szewczenko posed for the German edition ofPlayboy magazine in April 1999 and March 2007. Beginning in 2002, she played the role of Katinka "Kati" Ritter on the German soap operaUnter uns. Her last appearance on the soap was 5 December 2005. From September 2006 until 2009, Szewczenko appeared in the German soap operaAlles was zählt onRTL 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.^[10]Norman Jeschke played herpair skating partner.^[10] In January 2009, Szewczenko left the series to return to show skating, joining theHoliday on Ice show with Jeschke.

Szewczenko andNorman Jeschke have a daughter who was born in February 2011^[11][12] and twin sons who were born in April 2021.^[13]

GP:Champions Series (Grand Prix)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toTanja Szewczenko.

• Tanja Szewczenko atIMDb

• 1977 births
• Living people
• Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics
• German television actresses
• German female single skaters
• Olympic figure skaters for Germany
• Sportspeople from Düsseldorf
• German people of Ukrainian descent
• German people of Russian descent
• World Figure Skating Championships medalists
• European Figure Skating Championships medalists
• World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
• 20th-century German sportswomen

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