Olga Korbut

Olympics

At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Korbut's acrobatics and open high-level gymnastics brought her much fame. During the Olympics, Korbut was one of the favorites for the all-around after her dynamic performance in the team competition; however, she missed her mount on bars three times, and the title went to teammate Ludmilla Tourischeva.

She went on to win three gold medals for the balance beam, floor exercise, and team competitions. Korbut's first attempt at her uneven bars routine was marred by several mistakes, which all but ended her chances of winning a gold medal in the all-around. The next day, Korbut repeated the same routine in the event finals, although this time successfully. After the boards displayed a score of 9.8, the audience began to whistle and shout vulgar remarks at the judges in disapproval, believing her score to be too low. This carried on for several minutes, but the judges refused to change their score, and she finished with the silver medal.

quote="When Olga Korbut captured the world's imagination on her way to three gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, she pioneered the essence of modern gymnastics: enchanting artistry married seamlessly with breathtaking, daring acrobatics." — –The Herald, 2015 In 1973, she won the Russian and World Student (i.e., University) Games, and a silver medal in the all-around at the European Championships.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Soviet coaches and officials had designated Korbut as the woman who could beat the Romanian prodigy, Nadia Comăneci, but Korbut was injured and her performances in the games were sub-par. She was overshadowed not only by Comăneci, but also by her own teammate Nellie Kim.

In 1991, she and her family immigrated to the United States, prompted by concerns about the aftereffects of the Chernobyl disaster on Belarus. They settled in New Jersey, where she taught gymnastics. Two years later, the family moved to the U.S. state of Georgia, where she continued to coach. Korbut and Bortkevich divorced in 2000, In 2002, she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, to become head coach at Scottsdale Gymnastics and Cheerleading. Korbut was also featured on an episode of Celebrity Boxing, which aired on May 22, 2002, with her opponent, Darva Conger, winning by unanimous decision. Since then, Korbut has worked with private gymnastics students and done motivational speaking.

During the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London, Korbut appeared on Twitter and Facebook, providing live, on-site commentary on the gymnastics competitions in the North Greenwich Arena. Along with historical artifacts, the show featured the personal narratives of 16 Olympic medalists, including Korbut. Her appearance at the exhibition on August 3 of that year marked the 40th anniversary of her Olympic victories. "I didn't even expect this," she said. "I am so honored to be here."

In 2017, Korbut sold her 1972 and 1976 Olympic medals, among 32 lots (including two golds and a silver from the Munich Olympics), which fetched $333,500 at Heritage Auctions.

In 1999, she spoke out about the sexual assault and rape she had suffered at the hands of her coach, Renald Knysh, which he denied. "The truth was that many of the gymnasts were not just sport machines, but sexual slaves to the trainer," Korbut stated. "We were not just potential gymnasts, but future concubines for himself." Later, in 2018, Korbut appeared on a TV show, in which she again spoke out about several incidents of sexual assault by her coach. As a result of her speaking out publicly, several other gymnasts, who had also trained under Knysh, came forward to reveal their own similar experiences of sexual assault.

In 2021, Korbut was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Award.

Legacy

Korbut is best known for one of her eponymous moves, the Korbut flip, a backflip performed on the uneven parallel bars, starting from a standing position on the high bar and then catching the same bar from below on the under swing. Named after Korbut since she was the first to perform the skill at an international competition in 1972, the move has since been made illegal in the Code of Points, as standing on the bars is no longer allowed.

After the 1972 Olympic competition, she also met United States President Richard Nixon at the White House. About the meeting, Korbut said: "He told me that my performance in Munich did more for reducing the political tension during the Cold War between our two countries than the embassies were able to do in five years." In addition to greatly publicizing gymnastics worldwide, she also contributed to a marked change in the tenor of the sport itself. Prior to 1972, the athletes were generally older and the focus was on elegance rather than acrobatics. In the decade after Korbut's Olympic debut, the emphasis was reversed.

Her 1972 Olympic achievement earned her the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year and ABC's Wide World of Sports title of Athlete of the Year. In a UK poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2002 the public voted "Olga Korbut charms the world" No.46 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.

With her display of artistry and grace, Korbut, along with Nadia Comăneci, brought unprecedented popularity to the sport in the early to mid-1970s, attributes which are now seen as a lost art in gymnastics with athleticism taking precedence.

Eponymous skills Korbut has one eponymous vault listed in the Code of Points. She also performed the Korbut flip on both the uneven bars and the balance beam. The uneven bars version was removed from the Code of Points after standing on top of the high bar was banned. Apparatus Name Description Difficulty Vault Korbut Handspring forward with 1/1 turn (360°) on – 1/1 turn (360°) off 3.6

In popular culture In a Peanuts comic strip published on 15 May 1973, the character Snoopy is seen doing balance beam positions with flawless precision on top of his doghouse for three panels until coming to a rest in the fourth one saying: "Olga Korbut has been bugging me for lessons!"

In X-Men #99 (June 1976), Nightcrawler makes a slight reference to Korbut's gymnastic skills in comparison to his own, and Colossus, a fellow Soviet, admonishes him for it.

Competitive history YearEventTeamAAVTUBBBFX Junior 1967 Junior USSR Championships Senior 1969 Junior Friendship Tournament 4 USSR Championships 5 1970 Chunichi Cup Junior Friendship Tournament 4 Tokyo Cup USSR Championships 15 1971 Chunichi Cup GDR-USSR Dual Meet JPN-USSR Dual Meet USSR Championships 4 1972 Riga International USSR-FRG-CAN Tri-Meet USSR-TCH Dual Meet USSR Championships 7 USSR Cup Olympic Games 75 1973 European Championships Summer Universiade 1974 USSR Championships USSR Cup 4 World Championships 1975 USSR Championships 6 6 USSR Spartikade 1976 Cup of the White Russian Republic USSR Cup Olympic Games 5 5