Nataliya Leonidivna Tymoshkina (née Sherstyuk, , born 25 May 1952) is a retired Ukrainian handball goalkeeper. She was part of the Soviet teams that won gold medals at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics and placed second at the 1975 and 1978 world championships. The Soviet team leaders Zinaida Turchyna and Tetyana Kocherhina credit the 1976 Olympic victory to Tymoshkina.
Tymoshkina started as a field player, and was converted into a goalkeeper by the coach. While she understood that she was more efficient in the goal she never liked that position.
References
Nataliya Sherstiuk-Tymoshkina. sports-reference.com Women Handball World Championship 1973 in Yugoslavia 08-15.12 Champion Yugoslavia, Women Handball World Championship 1975 Soviet Union 03-13.12 Winner East Germany, Women Handball World Championship 1978 in Czechoslovakia 30.11–10.12 Champion East Germany. todor66.com Тимошкина (Шерстюк) Наталья Леонидовна. mfsospartak.ru Kargova, Tatyana (15 April 2010) . Еженедельник 2000. (interview in Russian) Зинаида Турчина: О нас говорили, будто мы как собаки, которых с цепи спустили. fraza.ua (28 May 2009) Наталья Тимошкина: «Спартак» хотел побеждать в любом соревновании. spartak.kiev.ua (1 January 2005)