Korbut, Olga

Korbut, Olga (Valentinovna)

(born May 16, 1955, Grodno, Belorussia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet gymnast. Korbut first competed in the U.S.S.R. championships in 1969. Appealingly diminutive, with a captivating smile, she was the first person ever to do a backward aerial somersault on the balance beam and the first to perform a backward release move on the uneven parallel bars. In the 1972 Olympic Games she won three gold medals (balance beam, floor exercises, and as a member of the winning U.S.S.R. team) and a silver medal (uneven parallel bars). In the 1976 Olympics she won a team gold medal and a silver for the balance beam.

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Korbut, Ol’ga Valentinovna 

Born May 16, 1955, in Grodno. Soviet athlete. Honored Master of Sports (1972).

Korbut is a student at the Grodno Pedagogical Institute. She is a champion of the USSR and the world (1970) and an Olympic champion (1972, Munich, three gold medals) and has received the Cup of the USSR (1972) for gymnastics. She has been awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor. [13’416–2]