Sofia Ivanovna Muratova (russian: Софья Ивановна Муратова, 13 July 1929 – 25 September 2006) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

gymnast. She competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won eight medals.

Early life

Muratova grew up in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and lost her mother during its

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

. Muratova herself was evacuated from the city in 1941. During the war she could not regularly attend school, but tried to train every day. She took up

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

in 1943, entering a children's sports school, and just three months later competed in the Russian Championships for girls. In 1944 she moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, where she trained under Igor Zhuravlev.

First successes

In 1945 Muratova won her first major competition, the USSR Junior Championships. She soon became one of the strongest Soviet gymnasts, the only one to win five Soviet all-around titles, yet she was often unlucky at major international events.

World championships and Olympics

Muratova missed the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

due to injury. Two years later, at the 1954 World Championships in Artistic Gymnastics, she won a gold medal in the team competition and led the all-around contest, but broke her arm during a warm-up and had to withdraw from the championship. Her husband Valentin Muratov swore to win a gold medal for her and became the all-around champion. She debuted at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

, winning the team gold and two bronze medals, all-around and on the

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

. At the rather unsuccessful 1958 World Championships in Artistic Gymnastics in

Muratova won the team gold and two bronzes on

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

and

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

. Injuries haunted her on the way to the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

, but with the help from

Zoya Mironova Zoya Sergeyevna Mironova (née ''Noskova'', russian: Зоя Сергеевна Миронова, 10 May 1913 – 4 May 2008) was a Russian speed skater and sports surgeon, one of the founders of the sports traumatology in the Soviet Union. She w ...

, who operated Muratova just three months before the Olympics, she managed to recover and even win three medals — the team gold, all-around silver and bronze on the

. She presented her gold medal to Mironova as a token of gratitude. Her two Olympic all-around medals (1956, 1960) were a rare feat accomplished by only eight other women gymnasts. Muratova won seven all-around national titles, including the inaugural 1955 USSR Cup. She retired in 1965 and worked as a coach for 34 years. She was the head coach of the Soviet women's gymnastics team at the 1968 Olympics. Earlier in 1957 she was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

. Muratova died on 25 September 2006. Her husband Valentin Muratov died on 6 October of the same year.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muratova, Sofia 1929 births 2006 deaths Soviet female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gymnasts of the Soviet Union Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Dynamo sports society athletes Gymnasts from Saint Petersburg Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics

Early life

First successes

World championships and Olympics

Achievements (non-Olympic)

See also

References