Ludmila Petrovna Savinkova (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: Людмила Петрівна Савінкова;

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Людмила Петровна Савинкова; born 1 January 1936) is a retired

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 ...

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and co ...

. She is the first

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in 1963 and one of the group member that won gold in the first ever Group competition held at the 1967 World Championships.

Career

Savinkova was born in

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 millio ...

, Russia. In her childhood, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina and an artist. Savinkova was a typical representative of the ex Soviet RG school known for preciseness of lines and lightness of execution. Her natural elegance, style and physical qualities were first spotted by Tamara Vartanova in the Lujniki Palace of the Pioners, Moscow. Later on, Tamara's sister, Maria Lisitzian began to coach Savinkova and led her to the very top competitive level. In the beginning of the 1960s, Maria Lisitzian became national Soviet RSG coach and was responsible for the team representing her country at the 1st World Championships in 1963. 28 gymnasts from 10 nations took part in a competition called the First European Cup Tournament, in the Palace of Sports, Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday 7 December 1963. They were from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

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 ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. In Rome, Italy in 1964 FIG recognized this competition as the 1st World RSG Championships. At the event, she became the first ever to win the World All-around title. Savinkova also took part in her 2nd World Championships in 1965 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

but an unfortunate drop from her ball lost all her hopes of winning for the second time and kept her out of the medals. The last World Championships she participated in was at the 1967 World Championships in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Savinkova was one of the six gymnasts in the Soviet Union Group Exercise. This competition was the debut for the Group Exercises on the World stage. The soviets won the group gold medal. With her group gold, Savinkova retired from Rhythmic gymnastics.Савинкова Ludmila Savinkova profile
/ref> During the 1970s she coached in Kiev; she worked with the group exercises in partnership with Ukrainian coach Albina Deriugina.

Achievements

* First ever winner of the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in 1963 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. * Holds the record as the only Rhythmic Gymnast to win both Individual All-around gold and Group gold medal at the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savinkova, Ludmila 1936 births Ukrainian rhythmic gymnasts Soviet rhythmic gymnasts Gymnasts from Kyiv Living people Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Gymnasts from Moscow