Olga Korbut

Olga Korbut burst onto the world’s gymnastics scene at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, amazing experts with her flexibility and daring moves. A fall on the uneven parallel bars dropped her to seventh overall in the all-around individual. However, she won three gold medals; two individual in the apparatus finals (balance beam and floor exercises), and one with the Soviet all-around team. Korbut never defeated her teammate, Lyudmila Turishcheva, but she was the darling of the fans and the media for her courage to try new moves, and her willing smile. She later won the 1973 Universiade all-around title, and was second at the 1973 Europeans and 1974 World Championships in all-around. She competed at the 1976 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the team event and a silver on the balance beam. Korbut retired from competition in 1977 and later settled in Atlanta, Georgia.