Zinaida Voronina, born Zinaida Borisovna Druzhinina (also Druginina), (russian: Зинаида Борисовна Дружинина Воронина; 10 December 1947 – 17 March 2001) 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 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 at the European, World, and Olympic level from the mid-1960s to early 1970s. Training under Vladimir Shelkovnikov, Voronina's major debut came at the 1966 World Championships in Dortmund, Germany. There she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise, receiving the highest individual score of any gymnast at those games (9.933), which might have been the first time that any woman gymnast broke the 9.900 score barrier in the post-1952 era, presaging the perfect 10s that

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– ...

would score the next year at the 1967 European Championships and the perfect 10s that

Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. ...

would score so famously at the

1976 Montreal Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. She went on to win several individual medals over the next four years, most notably at 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 ...

where she won the individual all-around silver behind

. At the same games, she became Olympic champion in the team competition. Around the time of the 1968 games, she married Olympic gymnast

Mikhail Voronin Mikhail Yakovlevich Voronin (russian: Михаил Яковлевич Воронин; 26 March 1945 – 22 May 2004) was a Soviet and Russian gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won seven medals, inclu ...

. Shortly thereafter she gave birth to a son, Dmitry, and came back to further successes at the 1970 World Championships, among other games. She attempted to make the Soviet team for the 1972 Olympics, but faced a strong competition and only placed 10th in the individual all-around at the national championships. The same year she retired and started working as a gymnastics coach together with her husband. Saddled with her professional life and a difficult childhood (alcoholic mother, father she never met) she struggled with alcoholism. In 1980, she was divorced from her husband, who received custody of their son (he later became a competitive gymnast). Subsequently, she was sent out of Moscow for "anti-social behavior". She spent the remainder of her years working in a factory in

Balashikha Balashikha ( rus, Балашиха, p=bəlɐˈʂɨxə) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Pekhorka River east of the Moscow Ring Road. Population: Etymology In Finno-Ugric languages, ''Bala-shika'' means ''land of celebrations, ...

, Russia, dying in March 2001 at the age of 53. In 1969, she was awarded the "Order of the Badge of Honor".

References

External links

*http://www.gymn-forum.net/results.html *http://www.gymn-forum.net/Miscellaneous/USSR_Awards.html *http://www.gymn-forum.net/bios/women/voronina.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Voronina, Zinaida 1947 births 2001 deaths People from Yoshkar-Ola Soviet female artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Sportspeople from Mari El