27 Facts About Larisa Latynina

Larisa Semyonovna Latynina is a Russian former artistic gymnast.

Larisa Latynina holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a female gymnast with nine.

Larisa Latynina's total of 18 Olympic medals was a record for 48 years.

Larisa Latynina held the record for individual event medals for over 52 years, winning 14.

Larisa Latynina is credited with helping to establish the Soviet Union as a dominant force in gymnastics.

Larisa Latynina was born as Larisa Semyonovna Diriy in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR.

Larisa Latynina's father was killed at the Battle of Stalingrad, where he served as a machine gun operator.

Larisa Latynina first practiced ballet, but turned to gymnastics after her choreographer moved out of Kherson.

In 1950 young Diriy-Larisa Latynina received her first sports degree and became a member of the Ukrainian students team at the All-Union gymnastics' competitions in Kazan.

Larisa Latynina graduated from high school in 1953 with a gold medal, and moved to Kyiv.

Larisa Latynina attended the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, and continued her training at the Burevestnik VSS under coaching of Oleksandr Mishakov.

In 1956, at the age of 21, Larisa Latynina made her Olympic debut at the Melbourne Olympic Games.

Larisa Latynina finished first in the vault, second in the uneven bars and in the exercise on the floor and fourth in the balancing beam.

Larisa Latynina led the Soviet Union to victory in the Team Event.

Larisa Latynina won all gold medals at the 1957 European championship in gymnastics.

Larisa Latynina defended her floor title, took silver medals in the balance beam and uneven bars events, and bronze in the vault competition.

Larisa Latynina won all-around titles at the 1962 World Championships, beating Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia.

Larisa Latynina added two more gold medals to her tally, winning the team event and the floor event both for the third time in a row.

Larisa Latynina won a medal in every event in which she competed, except for the 1956 balance beam where she came in fourth.

Larisa Latynina held the distinction of having more Olympic medals than anybody, from 1964 until 2012.

Larisa Latynina is the only female athlete who at some point has held the record for most Olympic gold medals.

Larisa Latynina is the first female gymnast to have twice won team gold, all-around gold, and an event final gold at the same Olympics, having done so in 1956 and four years later, in 1960.

Larisa Latynina was born to Pelageya Anisimovna Barabamyuk and Semyon Andreevich Diriy, who died in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Larisa Latynina was born only five months after her mother won a world all-around title, and seven months after her birth Latynina competed at the national championships.

Larisa Latynina kept her pregnancy a secret, even from her coach.

Larisa Latynina announced her retirement after the 1966 World Championships and became a coach for the Soviet national gymnastics team, a position she held until 1977.

Larisa Latynina organized the gymnastics competition at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.