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Olga Valentinovna Korbut(May 16, Grodno, Byelorussian SSR, USSR) - Soviet gymnast, four-time Olympic champion, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1972). Played for Military establishment. Trained with Renald Knysh. She graduated (1977) with a degree in coach-teacher.
Sports biography
Olga Korbut came to gymnastics in the second grade at school in the gymnastics circle of Yaroslav Ivanovich Korol in 1963. At the age of 10, in 1965, she got into a group with Knysh. The first big success came in 1970 - she became the champion of the USSR in the vault and entered the USSR national team. The first gymnast who was able to perform somersaults on the balance beam.
The history of artistic gymnastics included the confrontation between Lyudmila Turishcheva and Olga Korbut. Turishcheva personified the old academic gymnastic school, while Korbut embodied new trends in sports: risky elements, athleticism and youth. At the 1972 Munich Olympics, Korbut demonstrated innovative gymnastic elements and became a crowd favorite. However, in a tough fight for absolute superiority, she lost to Turishcheva. Speaking during the absolute championship on her signature uneven bars, she made a serious mistake, and in the end did not even get into the prizes.
In 1976, Olga joined the USSR national team at the Games in Montreal, winning gold as part of the team and winning silver on beam.
Personal life
After the 1972 Olympics, Olga Korbut became a star on the air and was invited on tour in the USA in 1973. The tour was a triumph, and they are associated with the beginning of the gymnastics boom in America.
In 1974, "based on" her biography, the feature film "The Miracle with Pigtails" was filmed, in which she herself performed sports exercises (in leading role Irina Mazurkevich).
Olga finished her sports career after the Olympics in Montreal. In 1977 she received a diploma from the Faculty of History of Grodno University. In 1978, she married a famous singer, soloist of the Pesnyary group Leonid Bortkevich and lived with him for 22 years, has a son, Richard. In 2000 they broke up.
"Korbut loop"
Olga Korbut was the first to perform the unique element " Loop Korbut". The gymnast stands on the high part of uneven bars and makes a flask, clinging to the top bar of the bars with her hands. The element was performed during her routines on uneven bars at the Munich Olympics.
Subsequently, the element was improved by Elena Mukhina - she added a screw to it. Currently, the "Korbut loop" is not performed at official competitions, as it is prohibited by the rules (gymnasts are not allowed to stand on the top of the bars with their feet).
Achievements
- 4-time Olympic champion:
- 1972 - team championship, balance beam and floor exercises,
- 1976 - team championship
- Two-time Olympic champion (1972 - uneven bars, 1976 - beam),
- 1974 World Champion vault
- World Champion 1970 and 1974 in the team championship,
- Winner of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and absolute champion of the USSR in 1975, multiple champion of the USSR,
- Winner of the silver medal of the 1973 European Championship in the absolute championship.
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An excerpt characterizing Korbut, Olga Valentinovna
“What are you thinking now, Nikolenka?” Natasha asked. They liked to ask each other that.- I AM? - said Nikolai remembering; - you see, at first I thought that Rugai, the red male, looked like an uncle and that if he were a man, he would still keep the uncle with him, if not for the jump, then for the frets, he would keep everything. How good he is, uncle! Is not it? - Well, what about you?
- I AM? Hold on, hold on. Yes, at first I thought that here we are going and we think that we are going home, and God knows where we are going in this darkness and suddenly we will arrive and see that we are not in Otradnoye, but in a magical kingdom. And then I thought… No, nothing more.
“I know, I was thinking about him right,” Nikolai said smiling, as Natasha recognized by the sound of his voice.
“No,” answered Natasha, although at the same time she really thought both about Prince Andrei and about how he would like his uncle. “And I also repeat everything, I repeat all the way: how Anisyushka performed well, well ...” said Natasha. And Nikolai heard her sonorous, causeless, happy laughter.
“You know,” she said suddenly, “I know that I will never be as happy and calm as I am now.
“That’s nonsense, nonsense, lies,” said Nikolai and thought: “What a charm this Natasha of mine is! I don't have another friend like him and never will. Why should she get married, everyone would go with her!
“What a charm this Nikolai is!” thought Natasha. - A! there’s still a fire in the living room,” she said, pointing to the windows of the house, which shone beautifully in the wet, velvet darkness of the night.
Count Ilya Andreich resigned from the leaders because this post was too expensive. But things didn't get better for him. Often Natasha and Nikolai saw the secret, restless negotiations of their parents and heard rumors about the sale of a rich, ancestral Rostov house and a suburban one. Without leadership, it was not necessary to have such a large reception, and the life of congratulations was conducted more quietly than in previous years; but the huge house and outbuilding were still full of people, more people were still sitting at the table. All of these were people who had settled down in the house, almost members of the family, or those who, it seemed, had to live in the count's house. These were Dimmler - a musician with his wife, Yogel - a dance teacher with his family, the old lady Belova, who lived in the house, and many others: Petya's teachers, the former governess of young ladies and just people who were better or more profitable to live with the count than at home. There was no such big visit as before, but the course of life was the same, without which the count and countess could not imagine life. There was the same, still increased by Nikolai, hunting, the same 50 horses and 15 coachmen at the stable, the same expensive gifts on name days, and solemn dinners for the whole county; the same count whists and bostons, behind which he, dissolving cards for everyone to see, allowed himself to be beaten every day by hundreds of neighbors who looked at the right to play the game of Count Ilya Andreich as the most profitable lease.
The count, as if in huge snares, went about his affairs, trying not to believe that he was entangled, and with each step he became more and more entangled and feeling himself unable either to break the nets that entangled him, or carefully, patiently begin to unravel them. The Countess, with a loving heart, felt that her children were ruined, that the count was not to blame, that he could not be different from what he was, that he himself was suffering (although he hides it) from the consciousness of his own and children's ruin, and was looking for means to help the cause. From her feminine point of view, there was only one way - the marriage of Nicholas to a rich bride. She felt that this was the last hope, and that if Nikolai refused the party that she had found for him, she would have to say goodbye forever to the opportunity to improve things. This party was Julie Karagina, the daughter of a beautiful, virtuous mother and father, known from childhood to Rostov, and now a rich bride on the occasion of the death of the last of her brothers.
The Countess wrote directly to Karagina in Moscow, offering her the marriage of her daughter to her son, and received a favorable response from her. Karagina replied that she, for her part, agreed that everything would depend on the inclination of her daughter. Karagina invited Nikolai to come to Moscow.
Several times, with tears in her eyes, the Countess told her son that now that both her daughters were added, her only wish was to see him married. She said that she would lie down in the coffin calm, if that were the case. Then she said that she had a beautiful girl in mind and elicited his opinion about marriage.
In other conversations, she praised Julie and advised Nikolai to go to Moscow for the holidays to have fun. Nikolai guessed what his mother's conversations were leading to, and in one of these conversations he called her to complete frankness. She told him that all the hope of getting things right was now based on his marriage to Karagina.
- Well, if I loved a girl without a fortune, would you really demand, maman, that I sacrifice feeling and honor for a fortune? he asked his mother, not understanding the cruelty of his question and wishing only to show his nobility.
“No, you didn’t understand me,” said the mother, not knowing how to justify herself. “You didn’t understand me, Nikolinka. I wish you happiness,” she added, and felt that she was telling a lie, that she was confused. She started crying.
“Mamma, don’t cry, but just tell me that you want it, and you know that I will give my whole life, I will give everything so that you are calm,” said Nikolai. I will sacrifice everything for you, even my feelings.
But the countess did not want to put the question that way: she did not want a sacrifice from her son, she herself would like to sacrifice to him.
“No, you didn’t understand me, let’s not talk,” she said, wiping her tears.
“Yes, maybe I love the poor girl,” Nikolai said to himself, well, should I sacrifice feeling and honor for the state? I wonder how my mother could tell me this. Because Sonya is poor, I can’t love her, he thought, I can’t respond to her faithful, devoted love. And I'll probably be happier with her than with some sort of Julie doll. I can always sacrifice my feelings for the good of my relatives, he said to himself, but I cannot command my feelings. If I love Sonya, then my feeling is stronger and higher than anything for me.
Nikolai did not go to Moscow, the countess did not resume the conversation with him about marriage, and with sadness, and sometimes with anger, she saw signs of an ever greater rapprochement between her son and the dowryless Sonya. She reproached herself for that, but she could not help but grumble, find fault with Sonya, often stopping her for no reason, calling her "you" and "my dear." Most of all, the kind countess was angry with Sonya because this poor, black-eyed niece was so meek, so kind, so devotedly grateful to her benefactors, and so faithfully, unfailingly, selflessly in love with Nicholas that it was impossible to reproach her for anything. .
Nikolai spent his vacation with his relatives. The 4th letter was received from the groom, Prince Andrei, from Rome, in which he wrote that he would have been on his way to Russia long ago if his wound had not suddenly opened in a warm climate, which makes him postpone his departure until the beginning of next year . Natasha was just as in love with her fiancé, just as reassured by this love, and just as receptive to all the joys of life; but at the end of the fourth month of separation from him, moments of sadness began to come over her, against which she could not fight. She felt sorry for herself, it was a pity that she had been lost for nothing, for no one, all this time, during which she felt herself so capable of loving and being loved.
It was sad in the Rostovs' house.
Korbut Olga Valentinovna (born in 1955) - Belarusian athlete, gymnast. Four-time Olympic champion (1972, balance beam, floor exercise). She was a member of the USSR gymnast team, which won the team championship in 1972 and 1976. He has two silver medals (1972, uneven bars; 1976, balance beam). World Champion 1974 (vault), 1970 and 1974 (team competition). Absolute champion of the USSR in 1975. She was born on May 16, 1955 in Grodno. From the second grade she was engaged in the school gymnastic section. At first, Olya was not accepted to the local children's and youth sports school because of her fullness.
However, the girl was noticed by the Olympic champion Elena Volchetskaya, and soon she began to study with the honored coach of the country R.I. Knysh, who chose Olya as a candidate for future champions.
The girl easily mastered new elements, had excellent coordination of movements, and most importantly, a strong character.
In 1969, fourteen-year-old Olya successfully performed at the youth competitions "Olympic Hopes", where she demonstrated her famous somersault on a balance beam. In July 1971, at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, only an unfortunate fall from a log prevented Olga from winning a gold medal, but she and her friends still received gold for a team victory. The young athlete resolutely promised herself that she would definitely win the next Spartakiad. And indeed, at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR, held four years later in Leningrad, Korbut became the champion.
On the eve of the Olympic Games, she won the all-around at the National Cup. At the 72 Olympics in Munich, Olga's performance on the uneven bars created a real sensation. All newspapers vying wrote about the young athlete. However, in the all-around, she managed to take only fifth place, because Olya unexpectedly performed unsuccessfully on the uneven bars.
But on the last day of the competition on the same uneven bars, Korbut won a silver medal, and gold on the balance beam and floor exercises. As a result, the seventeen-year-old debutante took away three gold medals from the XX Olympic Games - for the team championship and exercises on individual apparatus.
In 1973, the USSR national gymnastics team toured the United States of America. Olga, as a Russian prima, was very popular: many gymnastic clubs were named after her.
V next year Olga Alekseeva began to train Olga. At the 1974 World Championships in Varna, Korbut took second place in the all-around, again, as at the Olympics, losing to Lyudmila Turishcheva. She won a gold medal in vaulting, surprising everyone, both fans and fellow athletes, with her impeccable performance of a very difficult jump "360 plus 360".
In 1976, at the Olympics in Montreal, new sensational victories were expected from Olga, but an old ankle injury summed up, which suddenly made itself felt.
Her signature elements had to be excluded from the program, which, apart from her, no one performed. It was possible not to sacrifice oneself, but the team must not be let down, and Olga performed literally on one leg. The USSR gymnastic team received gold medals for the seventh time.
Then Olga graduated from the Faculty of History of the Grodno Pedagogical Institute.
After the final demonstration performances in Tehran, she married Leonid Bortkevich, a member of the Pesnyary ensemble. The couple raised a wonderful son, Richard. In 2000, having lived together for 22 years, they divorced, and Olga and her son left for the United States.
She currently lives in Atlanta and is the head of the gymnastics academy that bears her name.
Brief Biographical Dictionary
"Korbut Olga" and other articles from the section
Many are interested in how to become a strong, successful person, to reach heights in life. The study of biographies of prominent people helps in this. Who are they, how did they achieve success and fame? Maybe they are arranged differently or do they have different living conditions compared to ordinary people? Let's see if this is so, using the example of the biography of Olga Korbut, an artistic gymnast, an object of admiration and admiration for people from many countries of the world. It was she who was called "Russian prima", "Russian chicken", "miniature beauty".
Olga's family and home
The story of Olga Korbut is reminiscent of the tale of Cinderella. She was born in the Belarusian city of Grodno on May 16, 1955. The girl did not have rich and famous parents. On the contrary, she grew up in the most ordinary family: her father was an engineer, and her mother was a cook. Living conditions were more than modest - the family huddled in a room with no amenities of 20 m2. But, in addition to Olya, three more girls grew up in the family. Six people in one room!
The beginning of the sports path
Olya studied in primary school with excellent marks. In the second grade, she was accepted into the school gymnastic section. There was no money for equipment, and my mother sewed Czech shoes from a terry towel, and a swimsuit from a long T-shirt. Later, at the age of ten, Olya moved to a sports school with coach Renald Knysh. At first, he did not believe in a girl who was too well-fed, in his opinion. But another coach, a student of Knysh, Elena Volchetskaya, an Olympic champion, saw something in Olya, and she was given a chance. Gradually, Renald Knysh appreciated the young gymnast. Among the many girls, he was looking for the most capable, from which it would be possible to nurture a future champion. The coach managed to see great potential in the small and nondescript Korbut.
In general, Olya and Renald Knysh made up a harmonious tandem: he is striving for novelty, for risk, stubborn, uncompromising, she is also stubborn, talented, flexible, very hard-working, strong in body and spirit, wanting to perform, amaze the audience. Just made for gymnastics! Later, in an interview, Olga Korbut will say that all the most important things in her life - both good and not very good - are connected with gymnastics.
The difficult nature of the future champion
The girl was very emotional and spontaneous. Gymnast Olga Korbut spoke about the complexity of her character in an interview, calling her temper unbearable. She could not cope with herself: either she wanted to do such an exercise that the coach did not allow her to perform, or, on the contrary, she flatly refused to demonstrate any trifling element proposed by Ren (as Korbut called him). The strength of her sporting character was also visible here.
Somersault on a log
In the sports biography of Olga Korbut there are magnificent achievements. The athlete, together with the coach, developed her new, unusual, risky gymnastics. For the first time, Olga loudly declared herself by performing a somersault on a log at the age of 14 at youth competitions.
For several years, he and Renald Knysh stubbornly prepared this sensational element, but with varying success. Skeptics did not believe that the girl would be able to achieve stability in the performance of somersaults, and that she could be released with this to international competitions. But they miscalculated: Olya exhausted herself with repetitions of a unique element, and everything began to work out.
Korbut's first important victory
The first significant sports victory was won by a gymnast at the USSR Championship in 1970. Olga received a gold medal for the vault. As a result, the girl became a member of the USSR national team.
Success at the Munich Olympics
The first Olympics of Olga Korbut was approaching - in 1972 in the German city of Munich. The girl was 17 years old, the gymnast was in excellent shape. Together with the coach, they prepared a peculiar program full of novelties and risky elements. The hour of the world triumph of Olga Korbut was coming.
Petite (height - 152 cm), with perky ponytails tied with bright ribbons, flexible and plastic, with surprisingly clean and smooth lines, creating something stunning on gymnastic apparatus, Olya made a splash. And the world was especially struck by the “dead loop” Korbut. Until now, no one has done such a risky element in women's artistic gymnastics. The girl stood on the upper pole of the bars and jumped back somersaults, grabbed the upper crossbar and then continued her beautiful combination at a fast pace. She moved so easily and smoothly, as if she was not affected by the force of gravity.
The stands rejoiced. Olga landed accurately and firmly, triumphantly straightened up and lit up with a happy smile. In general, her smile is also peculiar business card: wide, sincere, joyful, captivating.
Olya Korbut performed superbly both on the balance beam and in floor exercises, receiving gold for them. A new composition for the freestyle "Kalinka", specially staged before the Olympics, demonstrated in all its splendor the magnificent acrobatics of the girl and her artistry.
But on the uneven bars, she still lost to the German gymnast Karin Janz and became the second. In the team competition Olga received a gold medal, totaling three golds and one silver! An inspiring result for an Olympic debutante.
The story of the "dead loop" Olga Korbut
The athlete demonstrated this very risky unique element for the first time in 1969 at the USSR Championship.
How did the phenomenal “loop” Korbut appear, which later blew up the Olympic stands? Renald Knysh said that one day in training, Olya just dabbled on the uneven bars and suddenly did something out of the ordinary. The coach immediately felt the unusualness of the performed and tried to reproduce the completed element in memory. And so the legendary “dead loop” of Olga Korbut was born, which took years to polish.
In an interview, the gymnast said that she was always afraid to nausea of this element and, before going to the uneven bars, she overcame a great desire to escape from the competition to the whistle and hooting of angry fans. But, of course, she went and performed her composition. Not once during the performance of the "loop" she did not break, was not injured.
The paradox is that the gymnast has not won a single gold medal in the exercises on the uneven bars for all the time she has performed at international competitions. All the first places for this projectile usually went to the German athletes, and Olya was given the highest awards for beam and floor exercises. It's a shame, strange, but true.
Subsequently, Elena Mukhina repeated the “loop”, improving it (adding a screw). But once Mukhina didn’t calculate something, and during training, when repeating the insidious element, she fell off the bars, received a fracture of the spine and lay paralyzed for 25 years. After this tragic incident, doing a "dead loop" was banned. Now, according to the rules of artistic gymnastics, athletes cannot stand on the upper pole of this projectile.
Stream of worldwide fame
After the Olympics in Munich, fame literally fell on young Olga. She was idolized by fans from different countries, and as soon as she came to the store abroad, the goods were immediately given to her for nothing. She bought a wig and dark glasses, but this did not help at all to disguise herself - they still recognized, approached, took autographs.
Soviet athletes traveled with demonstration performances different countries, and the people went to look first of all at the “Russian sparrow”. In the United States, 200 gyms were named after Olga Korbut and a boom in gymnastics began.
Korbut's meeting with the President of the United States
Olga met with US President Richard Nixon. Subsequently, Russian diplomats confessed to her that she had done in Soviet-American politics what they had not been able to do in 5 years. Olga and Nixon talked quite naturally.
Nixon said to Olga: "What a little girl," to which she, not recognizing him, answered tall Nixon in not very good English: "You are a big boy." Laughter among those around did not stop for several minutes. Then the team was invited to dinner. There was warmth in relations between the countries. It was after Olga's visit to America and her meeting with President Nixon that he flew to the USSR in 1974 during the Cold War.
Coach change
Soon the athlete broke up with her coach Renald Knysh and began to study with Olga Alekseeva. They were completely different teachers. Alekseeva is more calm, friendly, she managed to become Olga's older friend, but this did not prevent her from being a demanding and strict teacher.
World Championship in Varna
At the World Championships in 1974 in Varna, Bulgaria, Olga felt herself in the best sports shape during her entire sports life. During the competition, the gymnast earned two gold (in team competitions and for vault) and four silver awards (all-around, uneven bars, balance beam, freestyle). In the all-around gold was won by Lyudmila Turishcheva, Korbut's constant rival, and Olga felt the injustice of what was happening, because she showed excellent, clean, innovative gymnastics, she was in excellent shape.
And the audience was violently indignant when they saw little Korbut's grades. But sport is sport, what can you do.
Victories in the USSR and the Olympics in Montreal
And then in the biography of Olga Korbut, a victory in the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR and the title of the absolute champion of the USSR in 1975. In 1976 - the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. There Olga Valentinovna Korbut won a gold medal as part of the team and received a silver medal for her performance on the balance beam. Such a seemingly not too victorious performance was due to an aggravated long-standing ankle injury, and in order not to leave the competition at all, Olga and her coach had to simplify their program as much as possible, remove from it the most spectacular and dangerous elements that were stored in abundance.
Retirement from sports
At the age of 23, in 1978, Olga Valentinovna Korbut decided to leave big-time sports, and her solemn farewell took place at international competitions in Moscow. After there were demonstration performances of Russian gymnasts in Tehran, where Korbut finally once again pleased the fans with her skills. The audience begged: "Don't leave, Olga!" But a new stage has already begun in life.
Personal life of Olga Korbut
In the biography of Olga Korbut there is a place not only for sporting achievements, but also beautiful love. Once on an airplane, she met Leonid Bortkevich, the soloist of the famous Pesnyary VIA. Olya flew with athletes, and Leonid - with musicians. Both sat apart from their teams, and Olga suggested young man get bored together. They ended up talking for 6 hours. Finally, Bortkevich wrote Olga his phone number. And she called back ... a year later, when she was lonely and she accidentally saw Leonid's number. We met, looked at each other for a long time, and the girl realized that love had come. Apparently, Leonid felt the same way, as a result of which they got married and lived for 22 years. Olga gave birth to Leonid's son Richard, contrary to the forecasts of doctors (they believed that she would not be able to give birth).
Olga Korbut could have two children, because they were waiting with Bortkevich and the second son, whom it had already been decided to name Vanya. But the baby was born dead.
Everything in the family was normal, but for charity, Korbut began to fly to America often, eventually moving there permanently. She was still loved in the USA and received many offers of cooperation in the sports field. Leonid, however, could not find a place for himself in America and returned to Russia to continue his musical career. The family broke up.
Later, Olga married journalist Alexei Voynich, but the marriage was very short.
Now everything is fine in Olga Korbut's personal life. She is going to marry American Jay Shenfilt, a marketing specialist. Their relationship has been going on for 10 years. The chosen one is 17 years younger than the athlete, but the age difference does not bother them. Korbut also became a grandmother in 2013: Richard had a son, Valentin.
Honors in gymnastics
In artistic gymnastics, Olga Korbut left a significant mark. Her achievements are innovative somersaults on the balance beam, the legendary “dead loop” Korbut, the flick-flyak jump (back from two legs), medals of the highest dignity at two Olympiads, several world and all-Union championships, bringing novelty and complexity to many existing elements, risky , a daring, sometimes accelerated manner of performing elements, creating your own unique style.
How Olga Korbut lives now
Olga Valentinovna lives in the small American city of Scottsdale, in the state of Arizona. She trains gymnasts individually and has also developed her own fitness program and teaches fitness. She also receives deductions from the elements she invented in gymnastics.
The former gymnast looks great, feels good, she has retained her previous weight (42 kg), monitors nutrition - she mainly uses fruit and vegetable salads.
An example to follow
The biography of Olga Korbut shows how the most ordinary, poor and ordinary-looking girl, thanks to her perseverance, hard work, spontaneity and courage, became a famous and beloved athlete by millions of people. Of course, you can’t take away her talent, but after all, each person has his own talents and abilities and, thanks to perseverance and determination, can achieve significant heights in life.
Korbut Olga Valentinovna- four-time Olympic champion, one of the best and most famous gymnasts in the world. The future champion was born on May 16, 1955 in the Belarusian city of Grodno in an ordinary Soviet family. My father worked at the enterprise as an engineer, my mother worked as a chef in a restaurant. In addition to Olya, three more girls grew up in the family. From the second grade, Olya began attending the school gymnastics section, but at first they did not take her to the children's and youth sports school, considering her plump. A case helped Olya to get to the Youth Sports School. The coaches who once came to school drew attention to a talented girl, and at the age of 10 she fell into the group of Renald Knysh, the country's honored coach. It was he who managed to notice in Olga the makings that helped her become a champion in the future. The young gymnast easily mastered new elements, was distinguished by excellent coordination of movements and a strong character.
For the first time, Korbut demonstrated her somersault on a beam in 1969 at the Olympic Hopes competition. In 1970, the gymnast became the champion of the USSR in the vault and the world champion in the team championship. In the same year, she becomes a member of the Soviet team. In 1971, an unfortunate fall from a log prevented her from winning gold at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. The next Spartakiad, which took place 4 years later, became her triumph, she won the title of champion. Korbut's performance at the Munich Olympics-72 was a real sensation for everyone. 
The 17-year-old debutant won three gold medals for balance beam, floor exercise and team championship. For her performance on the uneven bars, the gymnast won a silver medal. At the Munich Olympics, Korbut performed for the first time an element that will be called the Korbut Loop. It should be noted that this element is prohibited in official competitions. In 1972, Olga Korbut, the favorite of the Olympics, will be named the best athlete in the world. In 1973, at the European Championships, she becomes the silver medalist in the absolute championship. In the same year, her tour of the United States also passed with triumph, after her tour, a real boom in artistic gymnastics began here, many gymnastic clubs called her name. Korbut was hosted by the President of America, Richard Nixon. In 1974, Korbut got a new coach - Olga Alekseeva. In the same year, at the World Championships, held in Varna, she won gold in the team championship and in vaults, impressing the audience and judges with the impeccable performance of the jump of incredible complexity "360 plus 360". True, Korbut was second in the all-around, giving way to the winner Lyudmila Turishcheva. In 1975, Korbut became the gold medalist of the USSR Championship and the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. In 1976, she won the title of Olympic champion in the team championship. True, there were no new sensational victories in Montreal, since Olga could not demonstrate her signature elements due to an old injury.
In 1977 Korbut graduated pedagogical institute in Grodno. In 1978, she married Leonid Bortkevich, a member of the famous Belarusian ensemble Pesnyary. Later, Olga will persuade her husband to leave the ensemble and start a solo career. 
. After leaving the sport, she received a lifetime allowance of 300 rubles, and soon the merits of the gymnast were forgotten. After perestroika, Korbut and her family moved to the United States. They were given a home in Atlanta. Korbut becomes the head of the gymnastic academy, travels with demonstration performances. She developed and started teaching her shaping program, which allows you to eat whatever you want and look great at the same time. After 22 years of marriage, Olga and Leonid divorced. Leonid stayed in a house in Atlanta, while Olga and her son Richard moved into a two-story mansion. Today she lives in Arizona in the city of Phoenix.
The four-time Olympic champion and two-time silver medalist of the Games is known for her unique tricks and outstanding achievements in sports. Korbut she was the first to perform a unique gymnastic element on a beam - a jump from two legs back. This element was performed for the first time and was named the "Korbut loop" in her honor.
Dossier
Olga Korbut was born on May 6, 1955 in the city of Grodno, BSSR. Mother worked in one of the local canteens as a cook, and father was an engineer all his life. A family of six lived in small apartment at 20 square meters. As a child, Olga was caught stealing more than once.
Education
There was no desire to study well with Korbut. At school, she did not differ in bright abilities, until the 4th grade she studied without triples, but then her performance deteriorated. They even wanted to transfer the girl to educational institution for mentally retarded children.
Korbut started doing gymnastics from the second grade. Her abilities were noticed by the school fizruk Yaroslav Korol and enrolled her in the gymnastics section. Later, she tried to enter the Youth Sports School, but she was not accepted, considering her to be "fat". At the age of 10, at a sports school, she met an Olympic champion Elena Volchetskaya, who began to train her, and a year later Olga got into the group of the Honored Trainer of the USSR Renald Knysh.
In 1977 she graduated from the Grodno Pedagogical Institute, Faculty of History.
Olga Korbut and coach Renald Knysh, 1975. Photo: RIA Novosti / Mezhevich
Sports career
In 1970, Korbut managed to win the title of champion of the USSR in the vault.
In 1972, at the Munich Olympics, Olga won three golds and one silver. Korbut demonstrated new gymnastic elements and became the favorite of the audience. The Olympic champion began to be called the "chicken of the Soviet team", "the favorite of the Olympics", "wunderkind".
In 1974 she became the world champion in the vault and in the team championship.
In 1975 she became the winner of the Soviet Spartakiad and the champion of the USSR.
In 1976, Olga joined the USSR national team at the Games in Montreal and won gold and silver on beam as part of the team.
After the Olympics in Montreal, Korbut ended her sports career. She wanted to stay in gymnastics and work as a coach in the national team, but her plans were not destined to come true due to the fact that she lost her membership card and was expelled from the party for a year, which deprived her of the chances to engage in serious coaching.
Since 1991, Korbut has been living in the United States and has American citizenship.
In February 2017, Korbut put up for auction five medals she won at the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games, earning $183,000 from their sale.
Olga Korbut at the Olympics in Munich, 1972 Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Family status
In 1978, Korbut married the lead singer of the Pesnyary group. Leonid Bortkevich. She lived with him for 22 years, gave birth to a son, Richard. In 2000 they broke up.
After Bortkevich, Korbut married a journalist Alexey Voynich.
Now Korbut lives with an American Jay Shenfilt. They have known each other for 9 years, but have not officially formalized the relationship yet.
scandalous stories
After moving to the USA, Korbut became interested in equestrian sports. During one of the lessons, the horse dropped it and pierced the chest with its hoof. Korbut had three internal bleedings. The life of an athlete almost ended tragically, the doctors had to give her a blood transfusion.
In 1999, Korbut's confession appeared in the American tabloid National Enquirer, in which she accused her coach Renald Knysh of rape before the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
In January 2002, Korbut was detained at a supermarket on charges of stealing $19 worth of groceries. According to the gymnast, she simply forgot her wallet in the car and went after him to pay for cheese, chocolate syrup, figs and a box of spices. The judicial authorities of Gwinnett County (Georgia), taking into account that Korbut had not previously been convicted, did not insist on imprisonment, but appointed a special course of psychological rehabilitation.
A month after being accused of theft, Korbut came to be evicted from the house for which the mortgage was overdue. The arriving police found counterfeit money worth $30,000 in one of the rooms. The culprit was Olga's son, 23-year-old Richard. He received three and a half years in prison, and after serving his sentence was deported from the United States to Belarus.
