Olga Karasyova

Olga Karasyova, (24 July 1949 – 26 October 2025), also known as Olga Kovalenko,

She competed at the 1966 World Championships, where she won a silver medal in the team event with her teammates.

Karasyova was a member of the 1968 Soviet Olympic team, where she won the team gold with her teammates. Individually, she placed 7th in the all-around and reached the floor exercise final, where she placed 5th. The next year, she competed at the 1969 European Championships, where she won a number of medals: silver in the all-around as well as the uneven bars and beam finals, gold on the floor exercise, and bronze on the vault.

In 1970, she competed at the 1970 World Championships and won gold in the team event. Individually, she finished 7th in the all-around and won silver in the floor exercise final. This was her last international competition, though she competed domestically through 1972 and placed second at the 1971 Soviet championships. Despite her legal victory, the original interviews attributed to her continue to be reported as facts by some third parties.

Personal life Karasyova married Valery Karasyov after meeting him at the 1966 World championships, and they competed together at the 1968 Olympics and 1970 World championships. They divorced ten years later. She remarried to Yuri Kovalenko, an interpreter, and divorced him a decade later as well. She then married Mikhail Lifirenko, who worked in the military.