Polina Astakhova

Polina Astakhova
Personal information
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Women's Artistic Gymnastics Gold 1956 Melbourne Team competition Gold 1960 Rome Team competition Gold 1960 Rome Uneven bars Gold 1964 Tokyo Team competition Gold 1964 Tokyo Uneven bars Silver 1960 Rome Floor exercise Silver 1964 Tokyo Floor exercise Bronze 1956 Melbourne Team, portable apparatus Bronze 1960 Rome All-around Bronze 1964 Tokyo All-around World Championships Gold 1958 Moscow Team competition Gold 1962 Prague Team competition Silver 1966 Dortmund Team competition Bronze 1958 Moscow Uneven bars European Championships Gold 1959 Krakow Balance beam Gold 1961 Leipzig Balance beam Gold 1961 Leipzig Uneven bars Silver 1961 Leipzig All-around Silver 1961 Leipzig Floor exercise

Polina Astakhova (Ukrainian: Поліна Григорівна Астахова, Polina Grigorivna Astakhova; Russian: Полина Григорьевна Астахова, Polina Grigoryevna Astakhova) (October 30, 1936, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR - August 5, 2005 in Kiev, Ukraine) was a Soviet/Ukrainian gymnast who won ten medals (five gold medals, two silver medals and three bronze medals) at the Summer Olympics, where she participated as a member of the USSR team in 1956, 1960 and 1964.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Achievements (non-Olympic) 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Biography

Astakhova became interested in artistic gymnastics at age 13, after she had watched the gymnastics championships in Donetsk, a city, where their family moved a short time before. She trained in the local gymnastics sports club Shakhtyor, where her trainer was the Honoured Trainer of the USSR Vladimir Alieksandrovitch Smirnov.

Astakhova earned a nickname The Russian Birch in Western countries for her exceptional grace, and at the 1960 Olympics she was even called Madonna by the Italian journalists. Between 1956 and 1966 Astakhova was on top of many international and national competitions especially on the uneven bars apparatus event. She was a member of the USSR team between 1955 and 1968.

In 1954 Astakhova competed in the USSR Championships for the first time and in a year she made the USSR National team at the 1956 Summer Olympics. She was the youngest team member and contributed to the team's gold. At the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympics in Rome she led in the all-around, but lost a whole point for a fall on beam, which was the seventh routine of eight contested. She was very disappointed by the accident and even did not compete that year, although in Rome she won the gold in the team competition and on the bars, silver on the floor and bronze in the all-around. She recovered after the 1961 European Championships, where she won gold medals on the bars and on beam.^[1] Competing in the 1964 Summer Olympics, Astakhova contributed to the team's gold, won on the bars, was second on the floor and third in the all-around.

After she finished her career, since 1972 she worked as the USSR State Trainer for Ukrainian SSR for some time. In 2002 she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.^[2] Astakhova spent the last years of her life in Kiev, Ukraine before her death at age 68 from undisclosed causes.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

Year	Event	AA	Team	VT	UB	BB	FX
1956	USSR Championships	3rd			3rd		3rd
1957	USSR Championships				3rd
1958	World Championships		1st		3rd
	USSR Championships	3rd		3rd	2nd		3rd
1959	European Championships				1st		1st
	USSR Championships	1st			1st	2nd	1st
	USSR Cup	1st			1st	3rd	1st
1960	USSR Championships				1st	2nd	1st
	USSR Cup	1st
1961	European Championships	2nd			1st	1st	2nd
	USSR Championships				2nd	1st	2nd
	USSR Cup				2nd	1st
1962	World Championships		1st
	USSR Championships	3rd			2nd		3rd
1963	USSR Championships	3rd			1st		2nd
	USSR Cup	1st		2nd	1st	2nd	1st
1964	USSR Championships				2nd		1st
1965	USSR Championships	2nd				3rd
	USSR Cup	1st
1966	World Championships		2nd
	USSR Championships	3rd
1967	USSR Championships				3rd

See also

• List of multiple Olympic medalists

References

• ^ (Russian) "Polina Ghrighorievna Astakhova". Legends of the Soviet sports. http://sportlegend.kulichki.net/gymnastics/astahova.htm. Retrieved May 2, 2006. 

• ^ "Polina Ghrighorievna Astakhova". International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. http://www.ighof.com/honorees/honorees_astakova.html. Retrieved May 12, 2007. 

External links

• Biography and achievements
• Polina Ghrighorievna Astakhova at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique

Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Team Competition     1928 Netherlands 1936 Germany 1948 Czechoslovakia 1952 Soviet Union 1956 Soviet Union 1960 Soviet Union 1964 Soviet Union 1968 Soviet Union 1972 Soviet Union 1976 Soviet Union 1980 Soviet Union 1984 Romania 1988 Soviet Union 1992 Unified Team 1996 United States 2000 Romania 2004 Romania 2008 China

Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Uneven Bars 1952: Margit Korondi 1956: Ágnes Keleti 1960: Polina Astakhova 1964: Polina Astakhova 1968: Věra Čáslavská 1972: Karin Büttner-Janz 1976: Nadia Comăneci 1980: Maxi Gnauck 1984: Julianne McNamara / Ma Yanhong 1988: Daniela Silivaş 1992: Lu Li 1996: Svetlana Khorkina 2000: Svetlana Khorkina 2004: Émilie Le Pennec 2008: He Kexin

World Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Team Competition 1934:  Czechoslovakia 1938:  Czechoslovakia 1950:  Sweden 1954:  USSR 1958:  USSR 1962:  USSR 1966:  Czechoslovakia 1970:  USSR 1974:  USSR 1978:  USSR 1979:  Romania 1981:  USSR 1983:  USSR 1985:  USSR 1987:  Romania 1989:  USSR 1991:  USSR 1994:  Romania 1995:  Romania 1997:  Romania 1999:  Romania 2001:  Romania 2003:  United States 2006:  China 2007:  United States 2010:  Russia 2011:  United States

This article contains information from the website http://www.gymnast.ru/, incorporated into the Wikipedia with permission from its author E.V.Avsenev.

Persondata
Name	Astakhova, Polina
Alternative names
Short description	Gymnast
Date of birth	October 30, 1936
Place of birth
Date of death	August 5, 2005
Place of death