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{{short description|Ukrainian artistic gymnast}}
{{BLP sources|date=September 2010}}
{{Infobox gymnast
| name = Alina Kozich
| image = 
| image_size = 
| caption = 
| full_name = 
| altname = 
| nickname = 
| country = {{UZB}}
| formercountry = {{UKR}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|12|16}}
| birth_place = [[Kyiv]], [[Ukrainian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| hometown = 
| residence = 
| height = 153 cm
| discipline = WAG
| natlteam = 
| club = 
| gym = 
| collegeteam = 
| headcoach = [[Sergii Butsula]]
| assistcoach = 
| formercoach = 
| choreographer = [[Oksana Omelianchik]], [[Boris Zelepukin]]
| music = [[Valse a Margaux]] (2004), [[Tike Tike Kardi]] (2007-2008), [[Let's Get Loud]] by [[Jennifer Lopez]] (2008)
| eponymousskills = 
| retired = 2009
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates = <!-- see [[Template:MedalRelatedTemplates]] -->
{{MedalCountry | {{UKR}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|European Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2004 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2004 Amsterdam]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalSilver|2004 Amsterdam|Team}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2008 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2008 Clermont]]|Balance Beam}}
{{MedalBronze|[[2007 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2007 Amsterdam]]|All-Around}}
{{MedalBronze|2007 Amsterdam|Floor Exercise}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Universiade|Summer Universiade]]}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2007 Summer Universiade|2007 Bangkok]]|Team}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[European Youth Olympic Festival]]}}
{{Medal|Gold |[[2001 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival|2001 Murcia]]|Individual combined}}
}}

'''Alina Kozich''' ({{langx|uk|Алина Козич}}, born December 16, 1987) is a [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] former [[Artistic gymnastics|artistic gymnast]]. She was a member of the [[Ukraine at the 2004 Summer Olympics|Ukrainian team]] at the [[2004 Summer Olympics]] in [[Athens]].

== Gymnastics career ==
Kozich started gymnastics when she was 5. She first came to prominence at the age of 13, when she won the all-around competition at the 2001 European Youth Olympics in [[Murcia|Murcia, Spain]]. Her success continued with a gold medal on the [[uneven bars]] and a 4th-place finish in the all-around at the 2002 Junior European Championships in [[Patras|Patras, Greece]].

=== 2003–04 ===
In 2003, Kozich moved into the senior ranks. At the [[2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2003 World Championships]], she finished 8th in the all-around, and the Ukrainian team placed 7th, qualifying for the team competition at the 2004 Olympics.

The Olympic year started strongly for Kozich, with a career-highlight victory in the all-around at the 2004 European Championships, where she narrowly defeated [[Nicoleta Daniela Șofronie|Daniela Șofronie]] of [[Romania]]. She was the first Ukrainian to take this title since [[Lilia Podkopayeva]] in 1996, and joined a list of older compatriots such as [[Tatiana Gutsu]] and [[Ludmilla Tourischeva]]. Frequently, the European all-around champion in an Olympic year goes on to take the Olympic all-around title (this was the case in 1976, 1992, and 1996), so expectations for Kozich were high heading into Athens.

At the Olympics, Kozich helped the Ukrainian team finish fourth, their best-ever Olympic result. In the team final, she had the highest all-around score of any gymnast, including [[Carly Patterson]] and [[Svetlana Khorkina]], who would go on to place first and second in the all-around final, respectively. However, in the all-around final, Kozich had major problems on the [[balance beam]], with a big balance check on one of her simplest elements and then falling on her dismount, and placed 11th. In the [[Floor (gymnastics)|floor exercise]] final, she fell on her first tumbling pass and placed 8th.<ref>{{Cite Sports-Reference|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ko/alina-kozich-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418001410/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ko/alina-kozich-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-18|title=Alina Kozich|access-date=2016-08-04}}</ref>

=== 2005-08 ===
Kozich did not make any individual finals at the [[2005 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2005 World Championships]] in [[Melbourne]] or the [[2006 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2006 European Championships]] in [[Greece]], but she won a silver medal on floor at the 2005 Glasgow Grand Prix and helped the Ukrainian team to a fifth-place finish at the 2006 European Championships. In late 2006, she began to regain the form that won her the 2004 European title, placing 13th in the all-around final at the [[2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2006 World Championships]] in [[Aarhus|Aarhus, Denmark]]. She also helped the Ukrainian team finish fifth in the team final.

Kozich won several medals at World Cup events in 2007 and solidified her comeback with bronze medals in the all-around and on floor at the European Championships in [[Amsterdam]], with [[Vanessa Ferrari]] of [[Italy]] taking both titles.

She made her second Olympic team in 2008 and competed on all four events in qualifications, trying to make the all-around final. However, after two falls on uneven bars and floor, she finished 45th and did not advance to any finals.

After the 2008 Olympics, Kozich started competing for Uzbekistan but continued to train at her gym in Ukraine, with a different coach.

== Retirement ==
At the end of 2009, Kozich announced that she had retired as a gymnast. She became the official choreographer of the Japanese women's gymnastics team and was present as a coach at the [[2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|2010 World Championships]] in [[Rotterdam]].

==See also==
*[[List of Olympic female gymnasts for Ukraine]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{webarchive |title=Official website |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713172333/http://www.krystinasankova.com/alina/}}
*{{FIG|bio=17347|lic=515|name=Alina Kozich}}
*[http://www.gymbox.net/Alina%20Kozich.htm'Alina Kozich Photographs on Gymbox'] ... with three photo galleries

{{Footer European Artistic Gymnastics All-Around Champions (Women)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozich, Alina}}
[[Category:1987 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Ukrainian female artistic gymnasts]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gymnasts for Ukraine]]
[[Category:Gymnasts from Kyiv]]
[[Category:European champions in gymnastics]]
[[Category:Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games silver medalists for Ukraine]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2007 Summer Universiade]]
[[Category:21st-century Ukrainian sportswomen]]