She made her international debut at the Goodwill Games in Saint Petersburg that year, running a lifetime best of 51.30 seconds to take fifth in the 400 m before securing a 4×400 metres relay silver medal behind the United States with the Russian team of Yelena Golesheva, Yelena Ruzina, and Tatyana Zakharova. At the 1994 European Athletics Championships she was the fastest 400 m qualifier in the heats and reached the final, where she missed out on the bronze medal in fourth, beaten by Phylis Smith of Great Britain. Another relay silver medal came for her, running alongside Natalya Khrushchelyova, Zakharova and Svetlana Goncharenko, but they were some way behind the French winning team.