Yelena Chebukina (URS/RUS/HRV)
Soviet consistence personified; now in sunny Croatia

Yelena Chebukina enjoying her time with the All-Star team at the '85 Gala Match!

Whereas Irina Parkhomchuk was Valentina Ogienko's "other half", Yelena Chebukina was Ogienko's "double". Maybe she didn't seem like it physically, for Yelena was taller, big-boned, and looked straight out of the Russian steppes (she's actually Russian but from Kazakhstan). But in her playing, she was almost as good as Ogienko, though not as versatile. When Valentina rotated to the back row, Yelena was up at the net ready to block and hit with her enormous height and strength. Parkhomchuk could continue running quick balls to the middle with Chebukina, but she didn't run the slide. However, Yelena did hit the outside shoot, whereas Valentina never hit from the outside. Still, Chebukina wasn't as deceptive in her middle attacks because of her lack of variety, which brought the Soviet front line offence a notch below its potential. Nevertheless, what Yelena Chebukina brought to her team was something vital to any sport: consistence.

I remember seeing her perform as far back as the '85 World Gala Match against China, though I'm sure she had many successful matches internationally before that in order to be given that honour. She was brought into the lineup during the second set of the first of two matches, to replace Japanese middle hitter Norie Hiro. At the same time, her countrywoman Kachalova replaced Peruvian Cecilia Tait at opposite, and the two Soviets worked very well alongside Japanese setter Kumi Nakada, USA middle blocker Rose Magers, and Cuban outside hitters Josefina Capote and Mireya Luis. Chebukina hit Nakada's quick sets very well, and she even got fancy enough to hit the middle shoot, or the self-faking medium ball in the middle (something very typical of the Japanese). It seemed like she was having fun on the court, smiling and cheering and getting along well with her All-Star teammates. The All-Star coaches kept her in for the remainder of the match and for most of the second match as well, since her consistence was needed vis-à-vis the unpredictable flashiness of the Cubans. But even though the All-Stars lost both matches to Lang Ping and Company, Chebukina showed everyone that she was, not the most exciting middle hitter to watch, but definitely a dependable one.

Yelena grimacing soldierly at a tournament in Japan, 1993.

I liken her performance to that of Yang Xiaojun in the final match of the '86 World's. Both middle hitters weren't flashy, explosive players, but they were consistent, which is usually the preferred choice of setters in a fix. And even though Yang Xiaojun had many a way to put the ball down, Chebukina was more uniform, something that maybe didn't give her the credit she deserved.

Hitting at the '88 Olympic final. [FIVB Photo Archives]

At the '90 World's in China she was also a starter and without doubt, because she also learned how to hit the outside shoot, something she did with such ease that it seemed unreal. But clearly, her approach was a bit clumsy, which is probably why she didn't play as outside hitter on a full-time basis. And when she hit from behind the setter in position two, she wasn't always successful, as she would get blocked very often (I never really understood why) which was a rarity for someone so tall and strong. Her forté was therefore the middle and the middle mostly. And with her solid contributions the USSR capped off the decade by capturing the world title in front of thousands of Chinese fans in Beijing.

After that, Chebukina's volleyball career went through a rollercoaster ride, some of it due to historical geopolitics, some due to personal decisions that she took. In '91 she went to the World Cup and came in third place, after Cuba and China. I don't know what had happened since their World Championship victory in 1990, but the whole team looked gaunt and spent compared to the previous year. Maybe Parkhomchuk's defection to Croatia had something to do with it, I don't know. But Soviet coach Nikolai Karpol seemed to be exerting too much pressure on his players. In one time-out, I remember clearly, Chebukina heard the horn, and literally dashed to Karpol's right side and stood there, away from even the corner of his eye as he unleashed his rage at poor setter Marina Nikulina to his left. Chebukina just put her arms on her hips and looked out to the ceiling, with a worried look on her face. I'm sure time-outs like this one were commonplace within the Russian Volleyball Team experience, but something about that tournament told me that maybe Karpol was pushing them too hard.

Not to want to end on an ironic note, but certainly showing the criss-crossings of fate, Yelena Chebukina played in 2000 with an Italian club, Foppapedretti Bergamo, alongside her '88 Olympic rival from Peru, Gaby Pérez del Solar. Together, they reached the final of the European Cup of Clubs against nonetheless than Nikolai Karpol and his player factory—Uralotchka Yekaterinburg, which was essentially the whole Russian National Team minus Yevgeniya Artamonova. The two Seoul finalists prevailed with a 3-1 victory aided by the young blood of Italian superstars Maurizia Cacciatori and Francesca Piccinnini. Who would have thought in 1988, that the two middle blockers squaring off on centre stage at the Hanyang Coliseum would, twelve years later, play together in a club as naturalised players—one Italian, the other Croatian—against the very man who guided his team to Olympic gold? If life isn't bizarre, then certainly volleyball is!