Olga Gontar

Olga Gontar
Olga Gontar at the World Championships in Paris-Bercy, 1994
Personal information
Born (1979-01-11) January 11, 1979
Gymnastics career
DisciplineRhythmic gymnastics
Country represented
 Belarus
(Dinamo Minsk)
Head coach
Irina Leparskaya
Assistant coach
Galina Krylenko
Retired1996
Medal record
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Representing  Belarus
European Championships
Silver medal – second place1994 ThessalonikiTeam
Junior European Championships
Gold medal – first place1993 BucharestAll-Around
Gold medal – first place1993 BucharestBall
Gold medal – first place1993 BucharestRibbon
Silver medal – second place1993 BucharestRope
European Cup Final
Gold medal – first place1995 TelfordBall
Grand Prix Final
Gold medal – first place1995 DeventerRope
Bronze medal – third place1995 DeventerAll-around
Bronze medal – third place1995 DeventerRibbon

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.