She was the individual silver medallist at the 1980 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and took three team titles between 1977 and 1981.

[5] She had her highest season ranking in the 5000 m in 1980, with her time of 15:35.0 minutes being the second best after America's Jan Merrill.

She again neared the top of the profession in 1982 when she won at the Brothers Znamensky Memorial in a time of 15:12.62 minutes, placing third in the global rankings behind Mary Slaney and Grete Waitz.

[6] Bondarchuk focused more on longer distances in her late career and set bests of 2:35:17 hours for the marathon in 1984 and 33:55.98 minutes for the 10,000 metres in 1986.

She continued to compete as entered her forties and regularly finished in the top twenty of high profile American road races in the late 1990s.