# Zinaida Turchyna

Zinaida Mykhaylivna Turchyna (Ukrainian: Зінаїда Михайлiвна Турчина, née Stolitenko on 17 May 1946) is a retired Ukrainian handball player. Coached by her husband Ihor Turchyn she competed for the Soviet Union in all major international tournaments in 1973–1988, except for the boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics, and won three Olympic and five world championship medals. In 2000, a panel from the International Handball Federation and sports journalists named her the best female handball player of the 20th century.

## Biography

She graduated from the Kamyants-Podilskyi Pedagogical Institute (1972).
Married to coach Igor Turchyn, she gave birth to a daughter Natalia in 1971 and a son Mykhailo in 1983. Natalia Turchyna — master of sports of international class, also achieved considerable success in handball.

## Sports career

Stolitenko was brought to handball in 1959 by Ihor Turchyn, a team-sports coach 10 years her senior, who later headed HC Spartak Kyiv from 1962–1993 and the Soviet handball team from 1973–1993. She married him in 1965 and changed her last name from Stolitenko to Turchyna. They had a daughter Natalia (born 1971) and a son, Mikhailo. (born 1983). Natalia played handball alongside her mother for Spartak Kyiv, while Mikhailo went into basketball. After the death of her husband in 1993, Turchyna took over his coaching positions at Spartak Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team. She retired from coaching in 1996, but still works as the manager of Spartak Kyiv. Since 2002 she has lived with her boyfriend Vladimir.
Zinaida Turchyna played for the team "Spartak" (Kyiv). She won the USSR Championship 20 times and won the European Champions Cup 13 times.
Her successes with the national team, for which she played continually from 1965 to 1988. At the 1976 Olympic tournament, she played five matches and scored 22 goals. At the Moscow Olympics, she scored seven goals in five matches. At the Olympics in Seoul, she threw one ball in five games. In addition to her Olympic successes, Turchyna became the world champion in 1982 and 1986. In total, she played more than 500 international matches for the USSR national team from 1965 to 1988, were even more impressive.
In 2000, according to the results of a survey conducted by the expert jury of the International Handball Federation, Zinaida Turchyna was recognized as the best female handball player of the 20th century.

## Coaching career

1990–1994 —playing coach, 1994-1996 —head coach of Spartak team and national team of Ukraine.
Turchyna is the president of the handball club "Kyiv-Spartak" since 1993.

## Titles and achievements

* Winner of Olympic Games (2): 1976, 1980 Summer Olympics
* Winner of World Championship (2): 1982, 1986
* 1984 Friendship Games/Alternative tournament for 1984 Summer Olympics (1)
* Silver medalist World Championship (2): 1975, 1978
* Bronze medalist Olympic Games (1): 1988 Summer Olympics
* Bronze medalist World Championship (1): 1973
* Winner European Champions Cup (13):
** 1969–70 Women's European Cup (handball) [de], 1970–71 Women's European Cup (handball) [de],
** 1971–72 Women's European Cup (handball) [de], 1972–73 Women's European Cup (handball) [de],
** 1974–75 Women's European Cup (handball) [de], 1976–77 Women's European Cup (handball) [de],
** 1978–79 Women's European Cup (handball) [de], 1980–81 Women's European Cup (handball) [de],
** 1982–83 Women's European Cup (handball) [de], 1984–85 Women's European Cup (handball),
** 1985–86 Women's European Cup (handball), 1986–87 Women's European Cup (handball) [de],
** 1987–88 Women's European Cup (handball) [de]
* Finalist European Champions Cup (2): 1973–74 Women's European Cup (handball) [de], 1988–89,
* Finalist Cup Winners Cup EGF Cup Winners Cup [de] (1): 1990-1991
* USSR Champion (20): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 , 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
* Silver medalist USSR Championship (2): 1990, 1991
* Bronze medalist USSR championship (1): 1989
* Champion of Ukraine (1): 1992