Yuri Korolev

Yuri Nikolayevich Korolyov (; 25 August 1962 – 29 April 2023) was a Soviet artistic gymnast who competed during the 1980s, winning many World and European Medals. Part of a deep Soviet team that, throughout the 1980s, featured such names as Dmitry Bilozerchev, Valeri Liukin, Vladimir Artemov, Valentin Mogilny, and others, Korolyov still managed to distinguish himself for the greater part of the decade by becoming World All-Around Champion in 1981 and 1985, World Cup All-Around Co-Champion (with Li Ning) in 1986, and by winning many other titles and medals at the continental and world level.

1981–1984

Korolyov was coached by Alexander Fedorov at the Spartak club. Among the qualities most associated with his gymnastics and as a competitor in general, he has been described as both a consummate all-arounder and cool competitor. His routines were…often were completed with a cat-like dismount landing. His contemporary, Olympic Champion USA gymnast Bart Conner said about him nobody can out compete him.

As Korolyov had been winning many titles and medals for years as a Junior at such competitions as the Jr. USSR Championships and Jr. European Championships, it was no surprise that his senior debut in 1981 would be quite major. At that year's 1981 European Gymnastics Championships in Rome, where he became the first gymnast to compete in a triple back dismount from the Rings

In the event finals at these 1981 World Championships, in addition to his all-around victory, he also won two medals in the apparatus finals, both being ties - gold on floor with China's Li Yuejiu, who in 1983 in Budapest, Hungary would help his team to their first-ever world championship team title, and bronze on pommel horse with Hungary's György Guczoghy (winner of 13 medals at the continental, World Championship, and Olympic level). Korolyov was the youngest Men's World All-Around Artistic Gymnastics Champion up to that point. Korolyov had more free rein to collect medals at this competition, where he also won 3 of the 6 individual event titles.

Like the midpoint year in the preceding quadrennium, 1986 was another stellar year for Korolyov, as he won or co-won the All-Around at that year's 2 most significant international competitions. At that year's World Cup in Beijing, he shared the All-Around title with China’s Li Ning and also had great successes in the individual event finals winning 3 golds and 2 silvers. Also, that year, at the first Goodwill Games in Moscow, among a deep international field that included eventual Olympic All-Around Champion (1988) Vladimir Artemov and deceased eventual European and World All-Around Medalist Valentin Mogilny, Korolyov won the All-Around title again by a huge margin of .600. He logged the highest 6-event composite score in the preliminaries as well as again in the All-Around final, truly dominating the competition. That dominance stretched over into event finals as well where he snared 3 out of the 6 individual event titles.

1987 saw Korolyov even better-poised to go into the succeeding year's Olympics than at the same point in time in the previous quadrennium. Despite the very successful return of Bilozerchev and the rise of younger Soviet stars such as Valeri Liukin and Valentin Mogilny, Korolyov still managed to win his 3rd European All-Around Silver Medal, behind Liukin, at that year's competition European Gymnastics Championships in Moscow, adding to that 1 gold and 1 silver in event finals. At the 1987 World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, although Korolyov only qualified 4th among his Soviet teammates, his compatriot Liukin had to withdraw from the Individual All-Around because of an unfortunate knee injury, freeing Korolyov to compete in the All-Around final where he placed 2nd behind Bilozerchev and, buttressed by a perfect score of 10.00 on vault, even logged a higher 6-event composite score in the all-around final than Bilozerchev (or anybody else). (Under the New Life rules instituted two years later, he would have been World All-Around Champion.)

With the previous year's successes established, it looked like Korolyov would have another chance to finally prove himself on the world's biggest stage, the Olympics, but fate adversely intervened again when he injured his Achilles tendon at that year’s Soviet Olympic Trials,

With a total of 34 individual medals at World Championships, World Cups, and European Championships competitions, Korolyov had more such medals, as of 23 February 2008, than any other non-Olympian with Valentin Mogilny (17) being the next highest in this sort of medal count. Even stretching this medal count to include individual Olympic (Official or ‘Alternate’) medals, Korolyov's medal haul is tied with Alexander Dityatin for 3rd all-time for men behind Vitaly Scherbo (51) and Nikolai Andrianov (48). The non-Olympian woman gymnasts with the highest such medal hauls are the deceased 1978 World All-Around Champion Elena Mukhina, with 13, and her Soviet compatriot, 1985 World All-Around Co-Champion Oksana Omelianchik, with 11. His World Championship and World Cup individual medals tally of 21, as of 23 February 2008, was also far higher than any other non-Olympian with Valentin Mogilny being second. Even going strictly by individual World Championship individual medals alone, as of 23 February 2008, Korolyov had more (9) than any other non-Olympian, with Mogilny being the runner-up again with 6. Korolyov's 8 European / World Championship / World Cup / Olympic All-Around medals, as of 23 February 2008, was the 3rd highest ever among men, behind Scherbo and Andrianov who each have 9. Korolyov's 8 such All-Around medals also makes him the most prolific All-Around Medalist of the 1980s. Korolyov's 21 individual World Championship and World Cup medals, as of 23 February 2008, was the 2nd highest all-time among all male or female gymnasts, surpassed only by Scherbo's 26. Among these, 11 were gold and that, again, is surpassed, among all male or female non-Olympian gymnasts, only by Scherbo's 13. As of 13 April 2015, On WorldGymRank's list of the “50 Greatest Gymnasts of Our Time”, Yuri Korolyov is 8th all-time among the men in this weighted and detailed ranking system, a higher ranking in that system than any other male or female non-Olympian gymnast.

Post-competitive career, accolades, and death

After Korolyov’s competitive career, he applied himself and took an international judge certification, at one point judging at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Also, he coached at the Vladimir Tolkachev Youth Sports School and was a coach and consultant for the national team. he was unable to attend his induction until 2013.

On 28 April 2023, Korolyov held a training session, preparing two Vladimir athletes, both members of the national team, for the upcoming Russian Championship. Late that evening, Korolyov went into cardiac arrest and spent the night in intensive care, dying during the afternoon the day after. His death was described as " a great loss for the entire country."