Polina Astakhova

Polina Astakhova
— Gymnast —
Astakhova on Soviet postage stamp, 1965
Personal information
Full name	Polina Grigoryevna Astakhova
Born	30 October 1936 Zaporizhia, Ukrainian SSR
Died	5 August 2005 Kiev, Ukraine
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Competitor for  Soviet Union Olympic Games Gold 1956 Melbourne Team Gold 1960 Rome Team Gold 1960 Rome Uneven Bars Gold 1964 Tokyo Team Gold 1964 Tokyo Uneven Bars Silver 1960 Rome Floor Exercise Silver 1964 Tokyo Floor Exercise Bronze 1956 Melbourne Team, apparatus Bronze 1960 Rome All-Around Bronze 1964 Tokyo All-Around World Championships Gold 1958 Moscow Team Gold 1962 Prague Team Silver 1966 Dortmund Team 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.

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. 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. Astakhova spent the last years of her life in Kiev, Ukraine before her death at age 68 from pneumonia.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

See also

• List of multiple Olympic medalists
• List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists
• List of Olympic female gymnasts for the Soviet Union

References

• ^ (Russian) "Polina Ghrighorievna Astakhova". Legends of the Soviet sports. Retrieved May 2, 2006. 

• ^ "Polina Ghrighorievna Astakhova". International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 12, 2007. 

External links

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

v t e Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics - Women's Team All-Around     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 2012 United States 1956:  Soviet Union (URS), Polina Astakhova, Lyudmila Yegorova, Lidiya Kalinina, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova 1960:  Soviet Union (URS), Polina Astakhova, Lidia Ivanova, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Lyukhina, Sofia Muratova, Margarita Nikolaeva 1964:  Soviet Union (URS), Larisa Latynina, Polina Astakhova, Tamara Manina, Elena Volchetskaya, Tamara Zamotaylova, Lyudmila Gromova

v t e World Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Team Competition     1934:  Czechoslovakia 1938:  Czechoslovakia 1950:  Sweden 1954:  Soviet Union 1958:  Soviet Union 1962:  Soviet Union 1966:  Czechoslovakia 1970:  Soviet Union 1974:  Soviet Union 1978:  Soviet Union 1979:  Romania 1981:  Soviet Union 1983:  Soviet Union 1985:  Soviet Union 1987:  Romania 1989:  Soviet Union 1991:  Soviet Union 1994:  Romania 1995:  Romania 1997:  Romania 1999:  Romania 2001:  Romania 2003:  United States 2006:  China 2007:  United States 2010:  Russia 2011:  United States 1958:  Soviet Union (URS), Polina Astakhova, Raisa Borisova, Lidiya Kalinina, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova 1962:  Soviet Union (URS), Polina Astakhova, Lidiya Ivanova, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova, Irina Pervushina

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