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 Ovechkina in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1950-03-19)19 March 1950 (age 75) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Soviet / Russian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 69 kg (152 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Tatyana Nikolaevna Ovechkina (Russian:Татьяна Николаевна Овечкина;maiden name: Kabayeva;[1] born 19 March 1950) is a former Russian basketball player who played for theSoviet Union women's national basketball team that won two Olympic gold medals, the 1975World Championships and sixEuropean Championships. Today, she runs theRussia women's national basketball program.
Ovechkina was born inMoscow.[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]
At 16, Tatyana joinedDynamo 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 for theUSSR 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 the1977 Summer Universiade.[1] She retired from the national team at age 30.
She was awarded theOrder of the Badge of Honor in 1976 and theOrder 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 theSport-Express, a Russian daily newspaper.[1] Currently, she is a candidate for induction into theFIBA Hall of Fame.[3]
Ovechkina is the mother of professional ice hockey playerAlexander Ovechkin, who plays in theNational Hockey League (NHL) for theWashington Capitals and is regarded as one of the best hockey players of all time.[1] He wears #8 in honor of Tatyana, who wore #8 during her basketball career.[1]
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