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Olga Korbut

Olga Valentinovna Korbut (Belarusian: Вольга Валянцінаўна Корбут, Vol'ha Valyantsinawna Korbut; Russian: Ольга Валентиновна Корбут) (b. May 16, 1955), also known as the Sparrow from Minsk, is a Soviet Belarusian gymnast who won three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Korbut, at age 11, entered a Belarusian sports school headed by future coach Renald Knysh. There, she learned a difficult backward somersault on the balance beam.

She ended fifth at her first competition in the 1969 USSR championships. The next year, she won a gold medal in the vault.

Due to illness and injury she was unable to compete in much of the tournaments prior to the 1972 Olympics.

At the Olympics, her diminutive prettiness captivated the Munich audiences, and there she became the first person ever to do a backward somersault on the uneven parallel bars. She won three gold medals, for the balance beam, floor exercise and team, and one silver medal in the uneven parallel bars.

In 1973 she won the Russian and World Student games and a silver medal in the European championships.

In the 1976 Olympic Games at Montreal, she won a team gold medal and an individual silver medal for the balance beam.

She graduated from the Grodno Pedagogical Institute in 1977 and retired from Olympic competition thereafter.

Korbut invented two new gymnastic moves, the Korbut Salto and the Korbut Flip. She became a role model for many children all over the world and caused a surge of young girls to join their local gymnastic clubs.

Currently she is residing in the United States and recently had some problems with the authorities (she was caught shoplifting, and her son was caught with false dollar bank notes).




Last updated: 11-10-2004 16:11:38