Prior to
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, the minimum required age to compete in senior events sanctioned by the
FIG was 14.
The earliest champions in women's gymnastics tended to be in their 20s; most had studied
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
for years before entering the sport. Hungarian gymnast
Ágnes Keleti
Ágnes Keleti (''né'' Klein; 9 January 1921) is a Hungarian-Israeli retired Olympic and world champion artistic gymnast and coach. She is the oldest living Olympic champion and medalist, reaching her 100th birthday January 9, 2021. While repres ...
won individual gold medals at the age of 35 at the 1956 Olympics.
Larisa Latynina
Larisa Semyonovna Latynina (russian: link=yes, Лариса Семёновна Латынина, née Diriy, Дирий; born 27 December 1934) is a former Soviet artistic gymnast. Between 1956 and 1964 she won 14 individual Olympic medals and ...
, the first great
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
gymnast, won her first
Olympic all-around medal at the age of 21, her second at 25 and her third at 29; she became the 1958
World Champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
while pregnant with her daughter.
"Legends: Larissa Latynina"
''International Gymnast'', 2001 Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
gymnast Věra Čáslavská
en, the love of Tokyo ja, 「オリンピックの名花」 en, darling of the Olympic Games
, country = Czechoslovakia
, formercountry =
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Prague, Czechoslovakia ( occupied by Germany 1939– ...
, who followed Latynina to become a two-time Olympic all-around champion, was 22 before she started winning gold medals at the highest level of the sport, and won her final Olympic all-around title at the age of 26.Ludmilla Tourischeva
Ludmilla Ivanovna Tourischeva ( Russian: Людми́ла Ива́новна Тури́щева; also transliterated as Ludmilla Turischeva, Ludmilla Tourischcheva, and Ljudmila Turichtchieva, born 7 October 1952) is a former Russian gymnast, Ukr ...
was sixteen at her first Olympics in 1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
— they slowly became the norm, as difficulty in gymnastics increased.
List of Olympic all-around champions
;Olympic all-around champions 1952–2020- Women
:
;Olympic all-around champions 1952–2020 – Men
:
NB: ''The "age at Olympics" is calculated from the first day of Olympics gymnastics competition, if available; or the date of the Olympics opening ceremonies.''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gymnastics All-Around Champions By Age
Olympic gymnasts
All-around artistic gymnastics