[1] Natalia Grigoriyevna Kalinina was born in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on 16 December 1973.

[2] Kalinina's international debut was at the 1988 Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba) where she won gold with her team and finished fifth in the all-around.

Later that year she competed in the Junior GDR-USSR Dual Meet, and she won medals in every event, four gold and two silver.

[3] In 1989, Kalinina won a silver medal in the all-around at the Chunichi Cup behind teammate Natalia Laschenova.

[10] In the event finals, she finished fourth on vault, won silver on balance beam, and gold on uneven bars.

[16] She finished fifth in the all-around at the USSR Cup, but she won bronze medals on bars, beam, and floor.

[17] Kalinina finished the season by winning gold on the uneven bars at the Moscow News event.

She finished second in the all-around behind teammate Tatiana Gutsu, and she won gold in the balance beam final with a 9.925.

In the event finals, she finished seventh on vault, fourth on beam, and won gold on bars with a 9.987.

[23][24] Kalinina was fourteenth in the all-around in the prelims, but she did not qualify for the final due to three of her teammates placing ahead of her.

She married fellow performer Mikhail Tsitsilin, and they relocated to his hometown, Voronezh, where they began coaching gymnastics.