Natalia Kuchinskaya

Natalia Kuchinskaya
Full name	Natalia Alexandrovna Kuchinskaya
Nickname(s)	Natasha
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	March 8, 1949 (1949-03-08) St. Petersburg, Russia
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior international
Gym	Round Lake national training center
Former coach(es)	Vladimir Reyson; Larisa Latynina
Retired	1968
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 1968 Mexico City Team competition Gold 1968 Mexico City Balance beam Bronze 1968 Mexico City All-around Bronze 1968 Mexico City Floor exercise World Championships Gold 1966 Dortmund Uneven bars Gold 1966 Dortmund Balance beam Gold 1966 Dortmund Floor exercise Silver 1966 Dortmund Team competition Silver 1966 Dortmund All-around Bronze 1966 Dortmund Vault European Championships Silver 1967 Amsterdam Balance beam Silver 1967 Amsterdam Floor exercise

Natalia Alexandrovna Kuchinskaya (Russian: Наталья Александровна Кучинская; alternative transliteration Natal'ja Alieksandrovna Kutchinskaja), also known as Natasha Kuchinskaya (Russian: Наташа Кучинская) (born March 8, 1949) is a retired Soviet Olympic gymnast.

Kuchinskaya was born on March 8, 1949 in St. Petersburg and was selected for a gymnastics class while still in kindergarten. She originally aspired to become a ballet dancer, but was convinced to study gymnastics by her parents, who were both involved with the sport. She trained with Vladimir Reyson and later national team coach Larisa Latynina, who was said to consider Kuchinskaya one of her favorite gymnasts.

By 1965, at age sixteen, Kuchinskaya was the USSR national champion. At the 1966 World Championships, after winning her second Nationals title, the USSR Cup and the World Trials, she established herself as one of the stars of the Soviet team, winning gold medals in three of the four event finals (balance beam, uneven bars and floor exercise), a bronze on vault, and silvers in the all-around and team events. Kuchinskaya continued her winning streak in 1967, when she won the pre-Olympic test event in Mexico City and swept the USSR Nationals, walking away with the all-around title and every single event final gold medal.

At the 1968 Olympics, Kuchinskaya was arguably the most popular member of the Soviet team. She placed third in the all-around, behind Věra Čáslavská and her teammate Zinaida Voronina, she also shared in the team gold medal and won the balance beam title and a bronze on the floor exercise. She was dubbed "The Bride of Mexico" and "the Sweetheart of Mexico" by the admiring press and was serenaded with a folk song, "Natalie," during her stay in Mexico City.

The Olympics was Kuchinskaya's final competition. At the time, her sudden departure from gymnastics was attributed to a thyroid illness; in an interview in the late 90s Kuchinskaya also revealed that she had lost her motivation for the sport.

Following her retirement, Kuchinskaya coached in the USSR, Japan and the United States. She has been married since 1980 to optician Alexander Kotliar and currently lives and coaches in the USA, running her own gymnastics club in Illinois. In 1999 she appeared on the "Soviet Sport War" episode of the PBS documentary The Red Files discussing her experiences in gymnastics. In 2006 she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

Year	Event	AA	Team	VT	UB	BB	FX
1965	USSR Championships	1st				1st
	USSR Cup	2nd
1966	World Championships	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	1st	1st
	USSR Championships	1st			2nd	1st	1st
	USSR Cup	1st
1967	European Championships					2nd	2nd
	USSR Championships	1st		1st	1st	1st	1st
1968	USSR Championships	1st

Where she is now

She currently coaches at International gymnastics in Mt. Prospect, Illinois with her husband.

http://www.internationalgymnasticsgym.com/

External links

• Natalia Kuchinskaya at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique