Olga Gontar

Olga Gontar
Olga Gontar at the World Championships in Paris-Bercy, 1994
Personal information
Born (1979-01-11) January 11, 1979 (age 45)
Minsk, Belarus
Gymnastics career
DisciplineRhythmic gymnastics
Country represented Belarus
Years on national teamDinamo Minsk
Levelsenior
Head coach(es)Irina Leparskaya
Assistant coach(es)Galina Krylenko
Retired1996
Medal record
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Representing  Belarus
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1994 Thessaloniki Team
Junior European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1993 Bucharest All-Around
Gold medal – first place 1993 Bucharest Ball
Gold medal – first place 1993 Bucharest Ribbon
Silver medal – second place 1993 Bucharest Rope
European Cup Final
Gold medal – first place 1995 Telford Ball
Grand Prix Final
Gold medal – first place 1995 Deventer Rope
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Deventer All-around
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Deventer Ribbon

Olga Gontar (Belarusian: Вольга Гонтарь; Russian: Ольга Гонтарь, born January 11, 1979, in Minsk, Belarus) is a Belarusian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1995 Grand Prix Final all-around bronze medalist and the 1993 European Junior all-around champion.

Career

Gontar started competitive rhythmic gymnastics at 4 years old. In 1991, at age 12, she won the first of three consecutive all-around titles at the Schmiden International. She then took the all-around gold at the 1993 European Junior Championships, and also came in first on both ball and ribbon and was second with rope.

Gontar debuted as a senior in the 1994 season. 1995 was her last and busiest year in rhythmic. She won bronze in the all-around at the 1995 Grand Prix Final, in the event finals; she won gold in rope (tied with Olena Vitrychenko and Yanina Batyrchina) and bronze in ribbon. Before she could compete at the World Championships, reports surfaced that a back injury was forcing her out and would be the deciding factor in her early retirement from the sport at the atypically young age of 16.

After she completed her career in rhythmic gymnastics, Gontar briefly made a modeling career appearing in print ads and magazine covers for European luxury brands in Milan and Paris.