Olympedia – Olga Korbut
Biography
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.
Results
| Games | Discipline (Sport) / Event | NOC / Team | Pos | Medal | Nationality | As | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 Summer Olympics | Artistic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) |  URS |
 BLR |
Olga Korbut | |||
| Individual All-Around, Women (Olympic) | 7 | ||||||
| Team All-Around, Women (Olympic) | Soviet Union | 1 | Gold | ||||
| Floor Exercise, Women (Olympic) | 1 | Gold | |||||
| Horse Vault, Women (Olympic) | 5 | ||||||
| Uneven Bars, Women (Olympic) | =2 | Silver | |||||
| Balance Beam, Women (Olympic) | 1 | Gold | |||||
| 1976 Summer Olympics | Artistic Gymnastics (Gymnastics) | URS |
BLR |
Olga Korbut | |||
| Individual All-Around, Women (Olympic) | 5 | ||||||
| Team All-Around, Women (Olympic) | Soviet Union | 1 | Gold | ||||
| Floor Exercise, Women (Olympic) | =17 r1/1 | ||||||
| Horse Vault, Women (Olympic) | 7 r1/1 | ||||||
| Uneven Bars, Women (Olympic) | 5 | ||||||
| Balance Beam, Women (Olympic) | 2 | Silver |
Special Notes
- Listed in Olympians Who Won a Medal at the Summer Universiade (5–0–1 1973 Moskva GYM gold: all-around, floor, uneven bars, balance beam, and team, bronze: horse vault)
- Listed in Olympians Who Acted in Movies (Koly padayut dereva)
- Listed in Olympians Who Were Named BBC World Sport Star of the Year (1972)