Kovaleva won a gold medal in the team event at the
1996 Junior European Championships, and she placed fourth in the vault final. At the 1997 World Stars, she won gold medals on the vault and floor exercise. Kovaleva placed sixth in the all-around at the
1998 American Cup. She then won the all-around title at the
1998 Junior European Championships. Additionally, she won another gold medal on the vault and bronze medals on the uneven bars and floor exercise. At the
1998 Goodwill Games, she competed with
Alexei Bondarenko in the mixed pairs event, and they won the bronze medal. Individually, she advanced into the vault final and placed sixth. She won the all-around competition at the 1998 World Stars and also won gold medals on the vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. Kovaleva placed third in the all-around at the 1999 Russian Cup, behind
Yelena Produnova and
Svetlana Khorkina. At the
1999 World Championships, she helped Russia win the team silver medal behind Romania. Kovaleva finished eighth in the all-around at the 2000 Russian Cup. She was not selected for the 2000 Olympic team. ==Personal life==