Olga Korbut

Olga Korbut
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1955-05-16) May 16, 1955 Hrodna, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Eponymous skills	Korbut Flip
Medal record Representing Soviet Union Olympic Games 1972 Munich Team 1972 Munich Balance Beam 1972 Munich Floor Exercise 1976 Montreal Team 1972 Munich Uneven Bars 1976 Montreal Balance Beam World Championships 1974 Varna Team 1974 Varna Vault 1974 Varna All-Around 1974 Varna Uneven Bars 1974 Varna Balance Beam 1974 Varna Floor Exercise European Championships 1973 London All-Around

Olga Valentinovna Korbut ([Вольга Валянцінаўна Корбут, Volha Valancinaŭna Korbut] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help); Russian: Ольга Валентиновна Корбут) (b. May 16, 1955 in Hrodna), also known as the "Sparrow from Minsk", is a Belarusian, Soviet-born gymnast who won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympics, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the USSR team.

Early life Belarusian born Korbut, who started training at age 8, entered a Belarusian sports school headed by coach Renald Knysh at age 9. There, Korbut's first trainer was Elena Volchetskaya, an Olympic gold medalist, but she was moved to Knysh's group a year later. Initially he found her "lazy and capricious" but he also saw potential in her great talent, unusually supple spine, and charisma. With him, she learned a difficult backward somersault on the balance beam. She debuted this at a competition in the USSR in 1969. In the same year, Olga completed a backflip-to-catch on the uneven bars; this was the first backward release move ever performed by a woman on bars.

She ended fifth at her first competition in the 1969 USSR championships, where she was allowed to compete as an under age 15 year old. The next year, she won a gold medal in the vault. Due to illness and injury, she was unable to compete in many of the tournaments prior to the 1972 Olympics.

Olympics

Olga Korbut during 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich on 1996 Azerbaijani stamp.

At the 1972 Olympics, her acrobatics and open high level gymnastics brought her much fame. To this day, the tuck back and Korbut Flip are still very popular (2003 world beam champion Fan Ye performed both in her routine). This excellence in technical skills overthrew the sport's traditional emphasis on artistry.

During the Olympics, Korbut was one of the favourites for the all-around after her dynamic performance in the team competition; however, she missed her mount on bars three times and the title went to her teammate Ludmilla Tourischeva. Notwithstanding, Korbut won three gold medals for the balance beam, floor exercise and team. In one of the most controversial finishes of all time, she took a silver medal in the uneven bars. Korbut's first attempt at her uneven bars routine was marred by several mistakes which all but ended her chances of winning a gold medal in the all around. The next day, Korbut repeated the same routine in the event finals, although this time successfully. After the boards displayed a score of 9.8, the audience began to whistle, jeer, stamp their feet, and shout vulgar remarks at the judges in disapproval, believing her score to be too low. This carried on for several minutes; however, the judges refused to change her score.

Korbut is most famous for her uneven bars and balance beam routines. Her Olympic achievement earned her ABC's Wide World of Sports title of Athlete of the Year. In 1973, she won the Russian and World Student (i.e., University) Games, and a silver medal in the all-around at the European Championships.

Soviet coaches and officials had designated Olga as the woman who could beat the Romanian prodigy, Nadia Comăneci, in the 1976 Summer Olympics at Montreal, but Olga was injured and her performances in the games were sub-par. She was overshadowed not only by Comaneci, but also by her own teammate Nellie Kim. She did collect a team gold medal, and an individual silver medal for the balance beam.

Retirement and life after the Olympics

She graduated from the Grodno Pedagogical Institute in 1977, became a teacher, and retired from gymnastic competition thereafter. She married Leonid Bortkevich, who was a member of a popular Belarusian folk band, Pesniary. The couple had a son, Richard, in 1979. In 1991, she emigrated to the United States. Korbut and Bortkevich divorced in 2000.

Legacy

Korbut is a highly decorated athlete with four Olympic gold medals to her credit, but it is not this feat for which she is most remembered. The media whirl which surrounded her 1972 Olympic debut caused a surge of young girls to join their local gymnastic clubs, and a sport which had seldom been noticed previously now made headlines. After the 1972 Olympic competition, she also met United States President Richard Nixon at the White House. About the meeting, Korbut said: "He told me that my performance in Munich did more for reducing the political tension during the Cold War between our two countries than the embassies were able to do in five years." In addition to greatly publicizing gymnastics worldwide, she also contributed to a marked change in the tenor of the sport itself. Prior to 1972, the athletes were generally older and the focus was on elegance rather than acrobatics. In the decade after Korbut's Olympic debut, the emphasis was reversed. Her popularity at this time has also been said be a part of a trend towards tininess in her sport, Korbut at the time standing 1.50 m and weighing 37 kg.

In 1988 Korbut was the first gymnast to be inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

External links

• Official website
• Olga Korbut at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Where Are They Now?: Olga Korbut Info & Photos
• Sports Reference Profile