Olympic goal is in Sergei’s genes

Victoria’s Sergei Evglevski is aiming to build on his mother’s legacy when he competes in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol when the Australian Olympic team nomination trials are held at the Brisbane International Shooting Centre between 21 and 23.

Evglevski’s mother, Lalita Yauhleuskaya, was a world class shooter who won a bronze medal in the women’s 25m Sport Pistol for her native Belarus at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games – four years after finishing eighth in the 10m Air Pistol at the Atlanta Games.

Yauhleuskaya became an Australian citizen after the Sydney Olympics and represented her new country at the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games.

She also represented Australia at the 2002 Manchester, 2006 Melbourne, 2010 Delhi, 2014 Glasgow and 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games where she won a total of seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals in a decorated career.

The Evglevski family’s Olympic association goes even deeper with Sergei’s father, Sergei Evglevski Snr., the gunsmith for the Australian team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and on the Australian team coaching staff for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Evglevski, West Australia’s Bailey Groves and ACT’s Thomas Ashmore are challenging for one Australian Olympic team spot in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol after registering a Minimum Qualification Scores when winning the Oceania Championship in Sydney last November.

Evglevski represented Australia at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games where he won silver in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol.

“Winning a silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games was a big deal for me. The competition is a huge one for Australia and to be able to win a medal and do it in front of a huge crowd was a great feeling,” said Evglevski.

Evglevski was only three years old when his mother won her Olympic bronze medal but is driven to carve out his own Olympic career.

“Unfortunately, I do not have an Olympic memory, however flaunting Mum’s Olympic bronze medal at school is a memory I will always remember,” he said.

“My ambition is to reach and succeed at the pinnacle of shooting, which is the Olympic Games. Not only do I want to qualify, I want to succeed,” he added.

Evglevski isn’t the only pistol athlete looking to maintain an Olympic family association at the nomination trials.

Melbourne doctor, Elena Galiabovitch, is hoping to win selection for her second Olympic Games when she competes in the women’s 25m Sport Pistol and 10m Air Pistol events in which she won silver and bronze medals at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Keeping a close eye on her progress will be Galiabovitch’s father, Vladimir, who is the Australian National Pistol Coach for the Tokyo Games and was Pistol coach at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

One of Galiabovitch’s main rivals will be Queensland’s Dina Aspandiyarova who represented Australia at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games.

Aspandiyarova is coached by her husband Anatoly Babushkin who was the Australian Olympic pistol coach at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

Aspandiyarova competed at the Sydney 2000 Olympics for Kazakhstan where she finished sixth in the women’s 10m Air Pistol before moving to Australia with her husband in 2003.

She is looking to win selection for her third Australian Olympic team after competing at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics.

Shooting Australia