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Elvira Saadi

b. 1952

Soviet-Uzbek artistic gymnast (born 1952)

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About Elvira Saadi

Born 1952. Elvira Saadi is an Uzbek and Russian artistic gymnast.

Elvira Fuadovna Saadi (born January 2, 1952) is a retired gymnast from the former Soviet Union and a former elite gymnastics coach in Canada.

As a member of the Soviet Union's women's gymnastics team, Saadi shared in the team gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.

Saadi won the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise at the 1973 USSR national championships. That year, she tied for first on vault at the 1973 World University Games, where she also placed 3rd in the all-around.

Saadi was born in Tashkent, U.S.S.R. She relocated to Canada in 1991 to become a coach at the Canadian gym Cambridge Kips, where she trained Canadian Olympians Yvonne Tousek and Crystal Gilmore.

In June 2011, Saadi announced plans to open her own club, Dynamo Gymnastics. The new club begun operations on the premises of Revolution Gymnastics in Waterloo, where several top young gymnasts who left Cambridge Kips with Saadi trained. Saadi opened the new club together with the parents of one of the up-and-coming gymnasts, Victoria Moors, who left Cambridge Kips with Saadi. Along with Victoria Moors was Madeline Gardiner. Both Gardiner and Moors went on to qualify for the Canadian London 2012 Olympic team. Moors competed as part of Team Canada and helped to earn Canada 5th place overall in the team final, the best ranking of any Canadian Women's Artistic Gymnastics team to date at the Olympics. Gardiner was an alternate on the team but did not compete. Moors was also the youngest Canadian Olympian competing at the age of 15. Victoria went on to briefly hold the record for a Canadian Women's Artistic Gymnast at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2013, placing 10th for Canada. The previous best ranking for a Canadian was 14th. (That 10th-place ranking has since been beaten at the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships by Halifax's Ellie Black (Moors' teammate at the London Olympics). Victoria also has two eponymous skills, one a dismount from the uneven bars and the other a laid-out double-twisting double somersault on floor which is the hardest ranking floor skill to date. Victoria retired at the age of 18 in the spring of 2015. Victoria's sister Brooklyn Moors, also coached by Saadi, is a member of the Canadian national team and represented Canada at the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

On November 20, 2023, Saadi was permanently banned by Gymnastics Canada from working with gymnasts due to physical and verbal abuse. She appealed the ban, but on June 24, 2024, the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada denied her appeal.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Awards
Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR; International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
Also known as
Elvira Fuadovna Saadi

People in Elvira Saadi's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Elvira Saadi's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Elvira Saadi?

Soviet-Uzbek artistic gymnast (born 1952)

When was Elvira Saadi born?

Elvira Saadi was born on 2 January 1952 in Tashkent.

What is Elvira Saadi's occupation?

Elvira Saadi is an artistic gymnast.

What nationality is Elvira Saadi?

Elvira Saadi is Uzbek and Russian.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Elvira Saadi

· Wikidata: Q1439785

· DBpedia: Elvira Saadi

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Elvira Saadi. https://biography.guide/elvira-saadi/

MLA: "Elvira Saadi." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/elvira-saadi/.

Chicago: "Elvira Saadi." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/elvira-saadi/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

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