Munich 1972: Olga KORBUT of the Soviet Union in action during the women's artistic gymnastics floor exercises event at the Games of the XX Olympiad. KORBUT won the gold medal. Credit: Getty Images UK /Getty ImagesBorn: 16 May 1955
Birthplace: Grodno (Russia)
Nationality: Russia
Sport: Gymnastics
ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
Munich 1972
Montreal 1976
AWARDS
Olympic medals:
Gold: 4
Silver: 2
Other results:
World Championships
Gold: 2 (74)
Silver: 4 (74)
The Munchkin of Munich
Of all the 7,173 athletes who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics, none captured the public imagination like 17-year-old gymnast Olga Korbut. During the team competition she caused a sensation with her spectacular routine on the uneven parallel bars. As Korbut later recalled, "It was amazing. One day, I was a nobody, and the next day, I was a star."
Halfway through the individual final two days later, disaster struck. Korbut committed three errors on the uneven bars. The judges gave her a score of 7.5 and she wept with disappointment as she dropped to seventh place. Twenty hours later, Korbut regained her form in time for the individual apparatus finals.
She earned gold medals on the balance beam and for the floor exercise and a silver medal on the uneven bars. Back home in Grodno, Belarus, Korbut received so much fan mail - 20,000 letters in one year - that the post office had to assign a special clerk to sort her mail. In 1976, Korbut won a gold medal in the team competition and a silver on the balance beam.
