| Olga
Korbut was born on May 16th, 1955 in Grodno (Hrodna), Belarus (More
about this Belarus). Her father, Valentin Korbut, now
retired, was an engineer in a factory. Her mother Valentina Korbut
was a cook. Olga is the youngest of four sisters: Irina (b. 1946),
Zemfira (b. 1948), and Ludmilla (b. 1953). Ludmilla Korbut, also
a gymnast, earned the coveted Master of Sports title.
Olga
was noticed for her athletic ability in elementary school. Olga
was the smallest in her class but she could run faster and jump
higher than any of the other girls and many of the boys. She was
always getting into mischief, climbing fences and trees to help
herself to fruit. When she had her first gymnastics lesson she
fell in love with the demanding sport. During these early stages,
Olga showed tremendous promise and ability. Olga also had the
example of her sister Ludmilla to look up to.
When
Olga was eight years old she tried out for a place in the sports
school run by Renald Knysh. Knysh has a well-deserved reputation
for being a Boldly innovative coach.
In
1967 Olga Korbut entered the Belarusan junior championships, then
the following year entered the Spartakiade school championship.
She won gold in the vault, the balance beam, and the uneven bars,
while competing against some of the best young gymnasts in the
Soviet Union.
In
1969, at the age of fourteen and a half, Olga Korbut competed
in her first Soviet national championship. At the championship
Olga then demonstrated for the first time two unique gymnastic
moves created and developed with Kynsh - a backwards aerial somersault
on the balance beam (Korbut Salto) and a backflip-to-catch on
the uneven bars (Korbut Flip). The Korbut Flip was the first backward
release move ever achieved on the bars. Olga placed 5th in this,
her first senior competition. She just missed taking home a medal
due to a slip on the uneven bars. There was a lot of discussion
about Olga's spectacular moves. Despite the uproarious applause
from the audience and quiet commendation from the judges present,
there was some sentiment expressed that such elements were 'not
at all in keeping with glorious Soviet gymnastics'. Unfortunately,
this was an official comment of the National Soviet Sports Council,
and were early signs of the struggle Korbut and Knysh were to
face in trying to have their style of gymnastics not only recognized,
but also accepted and respected.
The
next year Olga Korbut finished 8th in the Soviet national championships
but remained the Soviet vault champion. She was taken as a reserve
to the 1970 world championships and was allowed to demonstrate
her gymnastic elements to the judges. They were impressed, and
pr Despite her problems, she managed to place 4th in the 1971
Soviet national championships by an amazing effort. In addition,
she earned her Master of Sports title. By the time of the new
year of 1972, a much more humble Olga Korbut had emerged from
these trials. Olga now had two goals to achieve in her life -
to finish secondary school; Olga was always a good student (in
comparison, she would be graduating a year early for an American
student). The second goal was to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
Olga
finished 3rd in the Soviet national championships - the next step
then was the Riga Cup, which was to be Olga Korbut's first major
international competition. Olga won. This appearance allowed the
Korbut Salto, the Korbut Flip and a new move, the Korbut Flic-Flac
on the balance beam, to be named after her. (Ironically, subsequent
gymnasts emerging later in the sport often took more than their
"fair" share of credit for the ongoing development of
these moves - many moves were renamed and accredited to the current
gymnastic "flavor" of the month!)
Olga
graduated from secondary school on schedule, then went on to compete
for the USSR cup. This competition was also the selection trials
for the Soviet Women's gymnastics team that would go to the Olympics
in Munich.
With
the heart of a warrior, Olga performed effortlessly. Her unique
elements were so amazing, even the judges could not picture how
she was able to do so many technically perfect moves, never seen
before, with such an appealing smile. That smile, so innocent,
yet also somewhat taunting the other competitors to even try her
moves; most of which have yet to be duplicated even to this day.
Olga
left these Olympic Games with 3 Gold Medals, title of "Athlete
of the Year" from ABC "Wide World of Sports" and
because of her labors, won millions of hearts and fans throughout
the world.
When
Olga returned to the Soviet Union she was awarded the Honored
Master of Sport in gymnastics, the youngest person ever to be
honored thus. She also worked hard in obtaining a college scholarship,
an impressive feat considering the amount of time Olga spent traveling,
training and performing. When she returned to Grodno, she was
given a heroes welcome, and was paraded through the streets on
the shoulders of her relatives. Olga then started receiving fan
mail, to Olga's amazement. There were even letters from the United
States, the Soviet Union's cold war enemy, and her extraordinary
international appeal, alongside that of other notable Russian
celebrities, may have helped pave the
When
the fall of 1972 came, Olga was in college, practicing and doing
tours. The schedule was hectic, even for some one as strong as
Olga was.
Some
time in the winter of 1973 a BBC documentary crew came to Grodno
and filmed a one hour special about Olga Korbut. The program was
an honest portrayal of her day to day life. It showed that she
was in many ways a regular young woman. It also showed that Olga
was intelligent, spirited and determined, and extraordinary too.
In
March of 1973 with her health and condition much improved she
led the Soviet women's gymnastic team on a tour of the United
States. Olga reveled in the superstar attention, saying, "I
expected a warm welcome, but not this warm" the first time
she was greeted by her fan club in Los Angeles. "I don't
feel like a star," she said. But she is a star.
In
New York she received two of her athlete of the year awards. The
Associated Press award was presented at Madison Square Garden
live on television. Refreshed from the tour Olga went into training
for the World University Games that were held in Moscow in August
1973.
In
1974 Olga Korbut competed in the Word Championship's at Verna
Bulgaria, where won 5 medals.
In
1975 the United Nations honored Olga for ability to bring the
world together by naming her the "Women of the Year"
and awarded her with the "Gold Tuning Fork".
Also
in 1975, Olga was selected as "Athlete of the Year"
by Women's Sport Foundation.
She continued to amaze the athletic community when she won one
her fourth Olympic Gold Medal at Montreal in 1976. After which
she made the transition to coaching the Soviet team. Thus leaving
competitive gymnastics an undisputed champion and a pioneer of
such advanced techniques, that these techniques are still considered
"impossible".
In
1977 Olga Korbut retired from gymnastic competition. She completed
college and became a head coach at Belarusian team.
1979,
Olga Korbut gave birth to Richard, her only child.
In
1988 Olga Korbut was inducted into the International Gymnastics
Hall of Fame
as the first inductee.
In
1991 Olga Korbut and her family immigrated to the United States.
During
the 1996 Olympic Games she was the official attache of Belarus.
She
was interviewed and profiled on NBC sports and given the accolade
"The Mother of Gymnastics"
In
1994, Olga was named a Sport Illustrated as one the top athletes
in the past 40 years.
In
1999 Olga Korbut was entered in the roll of the best sportswomen
of the XX century in the classification of Italian agency AHCA.
Now
Olga Korbut lives in Scottsdale (Arizona, USA). |
