The Soviet Union women's national artistic gymnastics team represented the Soviet Union in FIG international competitions. They were the dominant force in the sport from the 1950s until the Soviet Union's collapse. They lead the medal tally for women's artistic gymnastics with 88 medals including 33 gold. Larisa Latynina is also the most decorated female athlete at the Olympic games with a total of 18 medals. Soviet dominance was unprecedented in scale and longevity and was likely the result of the country's heavy investment in mass and elite sports to fulfill its political agenda.
History The Soviet Union won the team gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics – the first Olympics that the Soviet Union participated in, and they won the team gold for the next seven games. The winning streak was interrupted by the boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics, but they won gold at the 1988 Summer Olympics – the last Olympics that the Soviet Union participated in. The Unified Team won the team gold at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The Soviet Union won team gold at every World Championships that they competed in (1954–1991) except 1966, 1979, and 1987 where they won silver.
Team competition results Olympic Games 1952 — gold medal Nina Bocharova, Pelageya Danilova, Maria Gorokhovskaya, Medea Jugeli, Ekaterina Kalinchuk, Galina Minaicheva, Galina Shamrai, Galina Urbanovich 1956 — gold medal Polina Astakhova, Lidiya Ivanova, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova, Lyudmila Yegorova 1960 — gold medal Polina Astakhova, Lidiya Ivanova, Larisa Latynina, Sofia Muratova, Margarita Nikolaeva, Tamara Zamotaylova 1964 — gold medal Polina Astakhova, Lyudmila Gromova, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Yelena Volchetskaya, Tamara Zamotaylova 1968 — gold medal Lyubov Burda, Olga Karasyova, Natalia Kuchinskaya, Larisa Petrik, Ludmilla Tourischeva, Zinaida Voronina 1972 — gold medal Lyubov Burda, Olga Korbut, Antonina Koshel, Tamara Lazakovich, Elvira Saadi, Ludmilla Tourischeva 1976 — gold medal Maria Filatova, Svetlana Grozdova, Nellie Kim, Olga Korbut, Elvira Saadi, Ludmilla Tourischeva 1980 — gold medal Yelena Davydova, Maria Filatova, Nellie Kim, Yelena Naimushina, Natalia Shaposhnikova, Stella Zakharova 1984 — did not participate due to boycott 1988 — gold medal Svetlana Baitova, Svetlana Boginskaya, Natalia Lashchenova, Yelena Shevchenko, Yelena Shushunova, Olga Strazheva 1992 — gold medal – participated as the Unified Team Svetlana Boginskaya, Oksana Chusovitina, Rozalia Galiyeva, Elena Grudneva, Tatiana Gutsu, Tatiana Lysenko
World Championships
1934 — did not participate 1938 — did not participate 1950 — did not participate 1954 — gold medal Nina Bocharova, Pelageya Danilova, Maria Gorokhovskaya, Larisa Diriy, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova, Galina Rud'ko, Galina Sarabidze 1958 — gold medal Polina Astakhova, Raisa Borisova, Lidiya Kalinina, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova 1962 — gold medal Polina Astakhova, Lidiya Ivanova, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova, Irina Pervuschina 1966 — silver medal Polina Astakhova, Zinaida Druzhinina, Olga Karaseva, Natalia Kuchinskaya, Larisa Latynina, Larisa Petrik 1970 — gold medal Lyubov Burda, Olga Karaseva, Tamara Lazakovich, Larisa Petrik, Ludmilla Tourischeva, Zinaida Voronina 1974 — gold medal Nina Dronova, Nellie Kim, Olga Korbut, Elvira Saadi, Rusudan Sikharulidze, Ludmilla Tourischeva 1978 — gold medal Svetlana Agapova, Tatiana Arzhannikova, Maria Filatova, Nellie Kim, Elena Mukhina, Natalia Shaposhnikova 1979 — silver medal Maria Filatova, Nellie Kim, Elena Naimushina, Natalia Shaposhnikova, Natalia Tereschenko, Stella Zakharova 1981 — gold medal Olga Bicherova, Elena Davydova, Maria Filatova, Natalia Ilienko, Elena Polevaya, Stella Zakharova 1983 — gold medal Olga Bicherova, Tatiana Frolova, Natalia Ilienko, Olga Mostepanova, Albina Shishova, Natalia Yurchenko 1985 — gold medal Irina Baraksanova, Vera Kolesnikova, Olga Mostepanova, Oksana Omelianchik, Yelena Shushunova, Natalia Yurchenko 1987 — silver medal Svetlana Baitova, Svetlana Boginskaya, Elena Gurova, Oksana Omelianchik, Yelena Shushunova, Tatiana Tuzhikova 1989 — gold medal Svetlana Baitova, Svetlana Boginskaya, Olesia Dudnik, Natalia Laschenova, Elena Sazonenkova, Olga Strazheva 1991 — gold medal Svetlana Boginskaya, Oksana Chusovitina, Rozalia Galiyeva, Tatiana Gutsu, Natalia Kalinina, Tatiana Lysenko
Most decorated gymnasts This list includes all Soviet female artistic gymnasts who have won at least four medals at the Olympic Games and the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships combined. This list does include medals won as the Unified Team at the Olympics and the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1992 but does not includes medals won under the flag of an independent nation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Also not included are medals won at the 1984 Friendship Games (alternative Olympics).
Additionally medals won in the Team Portable Apparatus at the 1952 or 1956 Olympic Games are located under the Team column and are designated with an asterisk (*).
RankGymnastYearsTeamAAVTUBBBFXOlympic TotalWorld TotalTotal1Larisa Latynina 1954–1966 1956 1960 1964 1956* 1954 1958 1962 1966 1956 1960 1964 1958 1962 1956 1964 1960 1958 1962 1956 1960 1964 1958 1962 1964 1960 1958 1962 1956 1960 1964 1962 195818 14 322 Ludmilla Tourischeva 1968–1976 1968 1972 1976 1970 1974 1972 1976 1970 1974 1976 1972 1974 1970 1970 1974 1974 1972 1976 1970 1974 9 11 20 3 Nellie Kim 1974–1979 1976 1980 1974 1978 1979 1976 1979 1978 1976 1978 1979 1979 1974 1976 1980 1978 1979 6 11 17 4 Yelena Shushunova 1985–1988 1988 1985 1987 1988 1985 1987 1985 1987 1988 1987 1988 1987 1985 1987 1985 4 11 15 5 Svetlana Boginskaya 1987–1992 1988 1992 1989 1991 1987 1988 1989 1991 1988 1992 1991 1987 1988 1989 5 9 14 6 Tamara Manina 1954–1964 1956 1964 1956* 1954 1958 1962 1958 1956 1954 1958 1962 1956 1964 1954 6 8 14 7 Polina Astakhova 1956–1964 1956 1960 1964 1956* 1958 1962 1966 1960 1964 1960 1964 1958 1960 1964 10 4 14 8 Sofia Muratova 1954–1962 1956 1960 1956* 1954 1958 1962 1960 1956 1960 1958 1956 1960 1958 8 5 13 9 Olga Korbut 1972–1976 1972 1976 1974 1974 1974 1972 1974 1972 1976 1974 1972 1974 5 7 12 10 Natalia Kuchinskaya 1966–1968 1968 1966 1968 1966 1966 1966 1968 1966 1968 1966 4 6 10 11 Zinaida Voronina 1966–1970 1968 1970 1966 1968 1970 1968 1968 1966 1970 1970 4 6 10 12 Maria Gorokhovskaya 1952–1954 1952 1952* 1954 1952 1952 1952 1952 1952 1954 7 2 9 13 Maria Filatova 1976–1981 1976 1980 1978 1981 1979 1981 1980 3 4 7 14 Tatiana Gutsu 1991–1992 1992 1991 1992 1992 1991 1991 1992 4 3 7 15 Yelena Davydova 1980–1981 1980 1981 1980 1981 1981 1980 1981 3 4 7 16 Larisa Petrik 1966–1970 1968 1970 1966 1968 1966 1970 1968 3 4 7 Natalia Shaposhnikova 1978–1980 1980 1978 1979 1978 1980 1980 1980 4 3 7 18 Lidiya Ivanova 1956–1962 1956 1960 1956* 1958 1962 1958 3 3 619 Nina Bocharova 1952–1954 1952 1952* 1954 1952 1952 4 1 5 Olga Mostepanova 1983–1985 1983 1985 1983 1983 1983 0 5 5 Elena Mukhina 1978 1978 1978 1978 1978 1978 0 5 5 Galina Shamrai 1952–1954 1952 1952* 1954 1954 1954 2 3 5 23 Oksana Chusovitina 1991–1992 1992 1991 1991 1992 1991 1 4 5 24 Tatiana Lysenko 1991–1992 1992 1991 1992 1992 1992 3 2 5 25 Stella Zakharova 1979–1981 1980 1981 1979 1979 1981 1 4 5 26 Tamara Lazakovich 1970–1972 1972 1970 1972 1972 1972 4 1 5 27 Oksana Omelianchik 1985–1987 1985 1985 1987 1985 0 4 4 28 Lyubov Burda 1968–1970 1968 1972 1970 1970 2 2 4 29 Olga Karasyova 1966–1970 1968 1970 1966 1970 2 2 4 30 Galina Minaicheva 1952–1954 1952 1952* 1954 1952 3 1 4 Irina Pervushina 1962 1962 1962 1962 1962 0 4 4 32 Olga Strazheva 1988–1989 1988 1989 1989 1989 1 3 4 Tamara Zamotaylova 1960–1964 1960 1964 1960 1960 4 0 4
See also Russia women's national gymnastics team List of Olympic female artistic gymnasts for the Soviet Union Soviet Union men's national artistic gymnastics team
References