Larisa Latynina

1934-

Soviet gymmast

Gymnast Larisa Latynina won 18 medals in Olympic competition, and is the most decorated Olympian to date in any sport. She competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Olympics, as well as at the world championships in 1954, 1958, 1962, and 1966. She is the only gymnast to have won medals in every event on the program in two different Olympics.

An Orphan Seeking Beauty

Born in Kherson, Ukraine in 1934, Latynina, who began her gymnastic career under her maiden name, Dirii, initially dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, but her childhood was difficult. Deeply affected by years of poverty, World War II, and its aftermath, Latynina was also an orphan. She dreamed of making a better, more beautiful life, and as part of this dream, she began studying ballet when she was eleven years old.

Like many other schools in the Soviet Union at the time, Latynina's incorporated exercises with hoops and balls performed to music, and her teachers soon steered her into gymnastics. By the time she was sixteen, she was the national gymnastics champion of the schools division.

She was a dedicated student, and graduated from high school with honors in 1953. In school, she had also studied gymnastics, and her devotion to the sport paid off at the 1954 World Championships, when she placed 14th all-around.

Latynina studied at the Physical Training College in Kiev; at the school, she met and married Ivan Latynin, a ship's engineer.

Becomes a Gymnastics Superstar

At the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, Latynina won gold medals in the all-around and on vault, and tied for gold on floor exercises. Her team won silver medals on bars and bronze medals in the team drill event. Their wins were part of a notable shift in the sport of gymnastics: "away from strength, power, and sustained movements," according to an article on the Women in Gymnastics Web site, and toward "beauty, grace and choreography." Latynina made such an impression at Melbourne that she became the first internationally acclaimed superstar in the sport of gymnastics. She was twenty-one years old.

Interestingly, Latynina noted that her routines were not particularly difficult or innovative; instead, she tried to perform each move perfectly and with elegance.

In 1957 and 1958, Latynina won every event at the European championships, and in 1958, at the World

Championships, she almost duplicated this feat, winning gold medals in every event except the vault, in which she won a silver medal. Her winning sweep was made even more remarkable by the fact that while competing in these events, she was pregnant with her daughter, Tanya. Tanya was born ten days before Latynina's twenty-fourth birthday.

In a 1964 article in USSR Soviet Life Today, Latynina told Alexandr Maryamov that her daughter deserved half of the credit for her win at the World Championships. Latynina knew that she was five months pregnant during the tournament, but had kept her condition a secret from her doctors, since she knew that they would make her withdraw from competition.

Latynina skipped the 1959 European Championships because of her pregnancy, but after giving birth to her daughter, Latynina returned to competition. At the 1960 Olympics, Latynina won a medal in every event she competed in: a gold medal in all-around, floor exercises, and in team competition; silver medal on uneven bars and balance beam; and a bronze medal in the vault.

In competition at the 1961 European championships, Latynina won gold in floor and all-around, and silver on uneven bars and balance beam. She repeated her gold wins in floor and all-around at the 1962 world championships, and also won silver in the vault and balance beam.

In 1963, Latynina began graduate study at the Kiev Physical Training Institute. She was also a member of a committee that judged movies made by the Kiev Film Studios. As a celebrity, she met other Soviet heroes, such as cosmonaut Gherman Titov and his family.

1964 Olympics

At the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Latynina won gold medals in floor exercises and team competition; silver medals in all-around and vault; and bronze medals in un-even bars and beam. In an article in the London Times, a reporter commented that because Latynina was twenty-nine at the time, her career might be winding to a close, and "we may never see her like again…. But at such moments as she gave us this evening, hope springs eternal."

At the European championships in 1965, Latynina won four silver medals, in all-around, uneven bars, beam, and floor exercises, and a bronze medal in vault.

Latynina's daughter Tanya expressed no interest in following in her mother's footsteps. Tanya's father, Ivan Latynin, told Maryamov that he was grateful for this: "One gymnast in the family is quite enough! I'm a nervous wreck every time Larisa competes." He said that when she competed on beam, he had to either close his eyes or leave the venue.

Latynina's coach, Alexander Mishakov, told Maryamov, "It's a pleasure to work with Latynina because she demands so much of herself." He noted that Latynina filled every moment she had with activities. At the time, she was doing graduate work at the Kiev Physical Training Institute, and had been elected to the Kiev City Soviet for five years in a row. In addition to these duties and her intense gymnastics training routine, she found time for the theater, movies, fishing, dancing, getting together with friends, and spending time with her husband and daughter. Part of her intense activity was a result of the Soviet system of training athletes: athletes received many privileges in the Soviet system, but they were then obligated to serve their government by giving lectures and undertaking public service. Latynina's stint in the Kiev City government was part of this obligatory service.

Maryamov asked Latynina if she had a favorite medal, and Latynina replied, "The small gold medal I was awarded in 1953 for graduating from school with honors." Latynina also noted that in addition to gymnastics, she enjoyed reading poetry, listening to classical music and jazz, and watching theater and ballet. She told Maryamov, "I'd say they all help in my gymnastics work. I suspect that without them I'd be less of a gymnast."

Chronology

Awards and Accomplishments

Knowing that she could not continue competing forever, Latynina began planning a career shift, from competing to coaching. By 1964, her first protégé, Tanya Palamarchuk, had already won a Master of Sports rating. In addition to coaching, Latynina often spoke, hoping to popularize the sport among young people. "It's the sport closest to the arts that we have," she told Maryamov.

At the 1966 World Championships, she placed 11th all-around. She retired from competition after this event.

From 1966 to 1977, Latynina was a Soviet national team coach, and from 1977 on, coached a local team in Moscow. She was director of gymnastics for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and was honored with the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee in 1989.

Latynina has been married three times. She lives with her current husband, Yuri Israilevich Feldman, a former cycling champion, in Kolyanino, near Moscow. She is still revered as a national sports hero in the former Soviet Union, particularly in Ukraine, and often attends gymnastics competitions in Moscow. In 2002 she was honored with a Ukrainian Star Award.

In 1998, Latynina was named to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She was also honored in 2000, when a path in the Sydney Olympic Village was named "Larisa Latynina Way" in her honor.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY LATYNINA:

Ravnovesie, Moscow, 1975.

Gimnastika K=Skvoz'Gody, Moscow, 1977.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Riordan, James. Soviet Sports Background to the Olympics. New York: New York University Press, 1980.

Schultz, Heinrich, and Stephen S. Taylor. Who's Who in the USSR 1961-62. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1962.

Periodicals

"Mrs. Latynina Falls from Power." Times (London, England) (October 22, 1964): 4.

Other

"Larisa Latynina (USSR)." Gymn Forum, http://www.gymn-forum.com/bios/latynina_1.html (November 19, 2002).

"Larisa Latynina," International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. http://www.ighof.com/honorees_latynina.html (November 19, 2002).

"Larisa Latynina." International Gymnast. http://www.intlgymnast.com/legends/latynina.html (November 19, 2002).

"Larisa Latynina: The First International Superstar." Women in Gymnastics. http://historypages.org/gymnastics/latynina.html (November 19, 2002).

Maryamov, Alexandr. "Grace and Charm." reprinted from Soviet Life Today, September, 1964, in Gymn Forum. http://www.gymn-forum.com/Articles/SL-Latyn.html (November 19, 2002).

Ostrovsky, Ihor. "Ukrainian Stars Isolated." Day (Kiev, Ukraine) (June 4, 2002)http://www.day.kiev.ua/(November 19, 2002).

Sketch by Kelly Winters