Olga Korbut (USSR)

1972 Olympic BB and FX Champion
1973 University Games AA Champion
1974 World V Champion
1976 Olympic B Silver Medalist

Olga was born on May 16, 1955 in Grodno.  She has 3 older sisters (Irina, Zemfira, and Ludmila).  Olga was chosen to do gymnastics because of her small size.  Her first coach was 1964 Olympic champion Elena Volchetskaya.  Later, she was coached by Renald Knysh.  At age 14, Olga received permission to compete in the USSR Championships.  She placed 5th AA and and next year was the USSR's alternate at the 1970 World Championships.  Olga became an overnight star by winning 3 gold medals at the 1972 Olympics.  Although she was never able to win a major AA title, she was (and still is) nonetheless one of the world's favorite gymnasts.  

After retiring from gymnastics, she married folk singer Leonid Bortkevich in 1978 (they divorced in 2000) and had a son, Richard.  The family moved to the USA in the early 1990s.  Olga remarried and currently lives in Arizona.  

Links:  CSKA Hall of Fame, Olga's Website

Competition Results

1967
Jr. USSR Championships:  1st V, 1st UB

1969
Jr. Friendship Tournament (Druzhba):  1st Team, 1st V, 1st B, 4th FX
Schoolchildren's Spartakiade: 2nd Team, 2nd V, 3rd B
USSR Championships:  5th AA

1970
Chunichi Cup:  2nd AA
Jr. Friendship Tournament (Druzhba):  1st Team, 3rd AA, 2nd V, 3rd B, 4th UB
Tokyo Cup:  1st FX, 2nd V, 2nd B, 3rd UB
USSR Championships:  15th AA, 1st V, 2nd UB

1971
Chunichi Cup:  3rd AA
GDR-USSR Dual Meet: 1st Team, 1st AA, 1st V, 1st B
JPN-USSR Dual Meet:  1st Team, 1st AA
USSR Championships:  4th AA, 2nd B

1972
Olympics:  1st Team, 7th AA, 1st BB, 1st FX, 2nd UB, 5th V
Riga International:  1st AA, 1st V, 1st UB, 1st B, 1st FX
USSR Championships:  3rd AA, 2nd UB, 2nd B, 7th V
USSR Cup:  1st AA
USSR-FRG-CAN:  1st Team, 1st AA
USSR-TCH:  1st Team, 2nd AA, 1st B, 1st FX, 2nd V

1973
European Championships:  2nd AA
University Games:  1st Team, 1st AA, 1st UB, 1st BB, 1st FX, 3rd V

1974
USSR Championships:  2nd AA, 1st V, 1st UB
USSR Cup:  4th AA
World Championships:  1st Team, 2nd AA, 1st V, 2nd UB, 2nd BB, 2nd FX

1975
USSR Championships:  1st AA, 2nd V, 2nd B, 6th UB, 6th FX
USSR Spartakiade:  1st Team, 1st AA

1976
Cup of the White Russian Republic:  1st AA
Olympics:  1st Team, 5th AA, 2nd BB, 5th UB
USSR Cup:  3rd AA, 1st UB, 2nd V

This page was created on January 27, 2000 and was last updated on July 19, 2024.   
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