9781422284247

Ludmilla Tourischeva was the Soviet Union’s best female gymnast in 1972. She won the gold medal in the individual all-around competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Olga Korbut, though, wowed the fans more than Tourischeva could. She was spectacular in helping the Soviets win the team competition gold medal. Only 17 years old, she charmed the crowd and tens of millions of television viewers with her smile, charisma, and youthful exuberance when she executed a daring gold medal-winning balance beam routine and with her tears when she failed in the all-around competition. Competition in the single apparatus events occurred after the team and individual all-around events. Korbut won gold medals in the floor exercise and balance beam events. The highlight of her performance in the single apparatus events, though, was in the uneven bars. Amazingly, she did a backflip after standing on the top bar and grabbed onto the same bar as she plunged downward. More surprisingly, the judges awarded her only a silver medal. The crowd booed for several minutes and loudly cursed the judges. Korbut won the fans’ gold medal. GREATEST MOMENTS Olga Korbut Charms theWorld

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