Produnova's first major senior competition was the 1995 World Championships in Sabae, Fukui, Japan where the Russians finished fourth.

At the 1997 World Championships in Lausanne, Russia took team silver behind Romania, and Produnova claimed a pair of bronzes in the all-around and floor exercise.

The 1999 World Championships in Tianjin, China, Produnova finished fourth in the vault, bars, floor and all-around finals.

These results and her victory in the Russian national championships gained Produnova a place on the team for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

The quartet of Produnova, Khorkina, Yekaterina Lobaznyuk and world vault champion Elena Zamolodchikova all qualified for multiple finals.

The same principle applied to Khorkina's fall from bars since the score did not have to count towards the team title, the mistake did not have to cost them the gold.

Both Zamolodchikova and Lobaznyuk fell on the beam, and it was not until Produnova's solid performance that the Russians showed a clean routine.

She hit her beam routine solidly and stuck her difficult double front dismount, winning a bronze medal, behind Liu Xuan of China and Lobaznyuk.

[3] Produnova's floor exercise music at the 2000 Summer Olympics was "The Ride" from James Horner's The Mask of Zorro soundtrack.