Tamara Ivanovna Manina (russian: Тама́ра Ива́новна Ма́нина; born 16 September 1934) is a retired

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, ...

Olympic

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 ...

and a sports scientist.

Biography

Her family lived in Petersburg (and later 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 ...

), but Manina was born in Petrozavodsk, where her father was on a long mission. During the

German-Soviet War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

she was evacuated from besieged Leningrad into

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

. She returned into Leningrad in 1944 and began gymnastics at the Leningrad

Young Pioneer Palace Young Pioneer Palaces or Palaces of Young Pioneers and Schoolchildren were youth centers designated for the creative work, sport training and extracurricular activities of Young Pioneers and other schoolchildren. Young Pioneer Palaces originate ...

in the same year. She was called "Monia the Bird" by groupmates for her graceful and light

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 ...

s. Competing as a junior, she won the all-around title at the USSR Nationals in 1953, and became a candidate for the

USSR 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 nationa ...

team. In the same year Manina debuted at the senior USSR Championships, placing 12th in the all-around. Between 1953 and 1964 Manina successfully competed in many national and international events. One of Manina's most successful performances took place at the

1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 13th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Rome, the capital of Italy, on June 28 - July 1, 1954. It was the first World Championships at which the Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Sociali ...

, where she earned several gold medals on vault, on the

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...

and in the team competition. At the 1956 Olympics she rivalled

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 ...

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 ...

, and other strong competitors, and placed 6th in the all-around, but won silver medals on vault 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 ...

. She also contributed to the team's gold and bronze medals. The USSR team won more gold medals than any other country at that year's Olympics. In one of her interviews Manina said, that the team had a warm welcome everywhere in the USSR: on their way by train from

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

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 ...

they were met with flowers on each small station, people organized solemn meetings and made other arrangements to honor their visit. Although in the event finals of the 1958 Worlds Manina, apart from the gold in the team competition, won a silver medal, on vault, she placed 3rd in the all-around to Latynina and

Eva Bosáková Eva Bosáková-Hlaváčková, née Věchtová (18 December 1931 – 10 January 1991) was a gymnast from Czechoslovakia whose career spanned at least from the 1954 World Championships to the 1962 World Championships. Her father was also a gymnast ...

. She missed 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 ...

due to an injury, but competed in the

1962 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 15th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held on July 3–8, 1962 in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, this being the 3rd time that Prague hosted these championships. These were the last championships China competed in until 1 ...

, contributing to the team's gold and winning the bronze on vault. At age 30 she went to the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

and won the team's gold and silver on the balance beam. Finishing her competitive career, Manina seriously injured her ankle during the display competition in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and was not able to continue training afterward. She coached the French national team in 1975 and has been an international judge since 1971. Manina is also known for her scientific activities. Starting in 1958, she studied at the Leningrad State Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics, and graduated in 1965. She defended a dissertation for the

Candidate of Science Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "do ...

degree at the Lesgaft State Institute of Physical Culture in 1969 and taught at the gymnastics department of the institute until 1973. Since 1975 she has been a professor at the Saint Petersburg State Art-Industrial Academy. She has published more than 40 scientific, methodical and popular science books. Tamara Manina lives and works in Saint Petersburg. She is married to Valery Lutkov, a sports medicine doctor, and has a son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manina, Tamara 1934 births Living people People from Petrozavodsk Soviet female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gymnasts of the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in gymnastics World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Burevestnik (sports society) athletes Sports scientists Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in gymnastics Universiade bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1961 Summer Universiade

Biography

See also

References

External links