Lead Story
Issue No. 10 - April/May 2003
Tatiana''s brand of success
How many women in the world are recognised by their first name alone?
Adelaide resident 'Tatiana' Grigorieva is among the world's best pole vaulters and now an instantly recognisable figure on TV in Australia and New Zealand, as the Face of Rexona 2003.
Staying at the top of her sport despite the evergrowing demands from other parts of her life, Tatiana is very pragmatically making the most of her opportunities.
"Clearly the reality is that your sporting career is very short, and life goes on beyond it," she says. "A sporting career is a great opportunity to build up a brand while you are strong in your sport."
That said, she is in no hurry. Tatiana is a careful operator, examining her options on their merits. Discussing her business activity, she describes it as "little steps" that are steadily building up a corporate identity.
"I love fashion and in 10 or 15 years I would like to have a clothes brand. At the moment doors are open and I would like to find out which ones I am interested in.
"As an athlete I am used to being my own boss, and I learned through sport that it is very important to think about what I am doing and be responsible for what is happening."
When Tatiana migrated to this country in 1997, she had virtually nothing but ambition. She was an unknown (though international calibre) 400 metres flat and hurdles runner who followed her fiance, pole vaulter Viktor Chistiakov and his coach, Alexandr Parnov, to Adelaide. When she took up pole vault in 1998, she taught herself the basics; Parnov declared he would only coach her once she could clear 3.3m. It is a measure of her determination that she not only met that challenge, but won a bronze medal at the Goodwill Games of that year, her first international event.
At the 1999 International Athletics Federation world championships she managed a silver medal, and began to attract major attention.
"She was clearly a talented individual. She was good ...
