Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
events have been staged at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
since 1896. Soviet female gymnasts participated in every Olympic Games from 1952 to 1988, except for 1984.
["Soviet Union Gymnastics Women's Team All-Around Results"](_blank)
sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 13, 2013. A total of 41 female gymnasts represented the Soviet Union. Soviet women won 88 medals at the Olympics – 9 in team all-around, 2 in team portable apparatus, 18 in individual all-around, 15 in balance beam, 17 in floor exercise, 15 in vault, and 12 in uneven bars. The medals included 33 golds.
["Soviet Union Gymnastics"](_blank)
sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 13, 2013. The Soviet Union won the gold medal in team all-around in all nine Summer Olympics that they participated in.
Eight Soviet female gymnasts won at least six medals at the Olympic Games:
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 ...
(18),
Polina Astakhova
Polina Ghrighorievna Astakhova (Полина Григорьевна Астахова, 30 October 1936 – 5 August 2005) was a Soviet and Ukrainian artistic gymnast. She won ten medals at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics.
Biography
As ...
(10),
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 ...
(9),
Sofia Muratova
Sofia Ivanovna Muratova (russian: Софья Ивановна Муратова, 13 July 1929 – 25 September 2006) was a Soviet gymnast. She competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won eight medals.
Early life
Muratova grew up in Leningrad ...
(8),
Maria Gorokhovskaya
Maria Kondratyevna Gorokhovskaya (russian: Мария Кондратьевна Гороховская, uk, Марія Кіндратівна Гороховська; 17 October 1921 – 7 July 2001) was a Soviet gymnast of Jewish descent. At the ...
(7),
Nellie Kim (6),
Olga Korbut
Olga Valentinovna Korbut, ; russian: Ольга Валентиновна Корбут, group=nb (born 16 May 1955) is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver ...
(6), and
Tamara Manina
Tamara Ivanovna Manina (russian: Тама́ра Ива́новна Ма́нина; born 16 September 1934) is a retired Soviet Olympic gymnast and a sports scientist.
Biography
Her family lived in Petersburg (and later in Leningrad), but Manin ...
(6).
Competing at her only Olympics in 1952, Maria Gorokhovskaya won seven medals, setting a record for the most medals ever won in a single Olympics by a woman. She won golds in team all-around and individual all-around.
Larisa Latynina competed at three Olympic Games from 1956 to 1964, and her 18 career Olympic medals is a record for any female athlete. She won six medals in each Olympics that she participated in. Nine of her medals were gold, and she won three straight floor exercise titles.
Polina Astakhova also competed at the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Games. She won 10 total medals and ranks second to Latynina for the most medals among Soviet female gymnasts. Astakhova won uneven bars gold medals in 1960 and 1964.
Latynina's and Astakhova's teammates included Sofia Muratova and Tamara Manina. Muratova won eight total medals in 1956 and 1960, and Manina won six total medals in the 1956 and 1964 Games.
Ludmilla Tourischeva competed at three Olympics and won nine total medals – one in 1968, four in 1972, and four in 1976. Her golds included the 1972 individual all-around. Olga Korbut, who competed at her first Olympics in 1972, was popular with fans and the media for her daring moves. That year, she won four medals, including golds in balance beam and floor exercise. She won two more medals in 1976 and finished her career with six overall.
Nellie Kim, who competed at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, also had six total medals. She won two golds in floor exercise.
Soviet Union's success might be explained by a heavy state's investment in sports to fulfil its political agenda on an international stage.
Gymnasts
Medalists
References
{{Gymnastics at the Summer Olympics
*
Soviet Union
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 national ...
gymnasts
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...