Olga Karasyova, also known as Olga Kovalenko, (born 24 July 1949) is a former

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 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, sh ...

who competed in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

. Olga was coached by Igor Zhuravlev at CSKA Moscow. She is married to fellow gymnast Valery Karasyov, and studied French at the Pedagogical Institute. In 1994, it was reported that Karasyova had told German television channel RTL she and her former teammates were forced to participate in

abortion doping Abortion doping refers to the rumoured practice of purposely inducing pregnancy specifically for athletic performance-enhancing benefits, and then aborting the pregnancy. Rumours and allegations began during international sporting events in the mid ...

shortly before the 1968 Olympics, due to the supposed physical benefits of pregnancy. Girls who refused to have sex with their coaches were said to be removed from the team, and after ten weeks, the girls were forced to have an abortion. While rumours of such practices with Soviet, Scandinavian and East German female gymnasts had been around since the 1950s, no credible evidence had ever been given until Karasyova's apparent disclosure. Several days later, however, it was discovered the woman who was interviewed was an impostor: Karasyova was actually on a sea cruise as the time, and had watched the broadcast. She sued for libel, and in 2000, the Moscow Ismail Court awarded her 35,000 roubles in damages. Despite her legal victory, the original interviews attributed to her continue to be reported as facts by some third parties.

References

1949 births Living people Sportspeople from Bishkek Kyrgyzstani female artistic gymnasts Soviet female artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of the Soviet Union Gymnasts at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics European champions in gymnastics {{USSR-Olympic-medalist-stub