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Polina Astakhova

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Polina Astakhova
Полина Астахова
Polina Astakhova at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Full namePolina Grigoryevna Astakhova
Поліна Григорівна Астахова
Полина Григорьевна Астахова
Country represented Soviet Union
Born(1936-10-30)30 October 1936
Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died6 August 2005(2005-08-06) (aged 68)
Kyiv, Ukraine
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight56 kg (123 lb)
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
ClubShakhtar Donetsk,
Avangard Kyiv,
CSKA Kyiv
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1956 Melbourne Team
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Team
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Uneven Bars
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Team
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Uneven Bars
Silver medal – second place 1960 Rome Floor Exercise
Silver medal – second place 1964 Tokyo Floor Exercise
Bronze medal – third place 1956 Melbourne Team, apparatus
Bronze medal – third place 1960 Rome All-Around
Bronze medal – third place 1964 Tokyo All-Around
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1958 Moscow Team
Gold medal – first place 1962 Prague Team
Silver medal – second place 1966 Dortmund Team
Bronze medal – third place 1958 Moscow Uneven Bars
European championships
Gold medal – first place 1959 Krakow Balance Beam
Gold medal – first place 1961 Leipzig Balance Beam
Gold medal – first place 1961 Leipzig Uneven Bars
Silver medal – second place 1961 Leipzig All-Around
Silver medal – second place 1961 Leipzig Floor Exercise

Polina Ghrighorievna Astakhova (Ukrainian: Поліна Григорівна Астахова; 30 October 1936 – 5 August 2005) was a Soviet and Ukrainian artistic gymnast. She won ten medals at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics.[1]

Biography

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Astakhova became interested in artistic gymnastics at age 13, after she had watched the gymnastics championships in Donetsk, where their family moved a short time before. She trained in the local gymnastics sports club Shakhtyor under Vladimir Alieksandrovitch Smirnov.

Astakhova earned a nickname The Russian Birch in Western countries for her exceptional grace, and at the 1960 Olympics she was even called Madonna by the Italian journalists. Between 1956 and 1966 Astakhova was on top of many international and national competitions especially on the uneven bars apparatus event. She was a member of the USSR team between 1955 and 1968.

In 1954 Astakhova competed in the USSR Championships for the first time and in a year she made the USSR National team at the 1956 Summer Olympics. She was the youngest team member and contributed to the team's gold. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome she led in the all-around, but lost a whole point for a fall on beam, which was the seventh routine of eight contested. She was very disappointed by the accident and even did not compete that year, although in Rome she won the gold in the team competition and on the bars, silver on the floor and bronze in the all-around. She recovered after the 1961 European Championships, where she won gold medals on the bars and on beam.[2] Competing in the 1964 Summer Olympics, Astakhova contributed to the team's gold, won on the bars, was second on the floor and third in the all-around.[3] She became the first gymnast to defend her Olympic gold medal in the uneven bars event. Her feat was only matched in 2000 by Svetlana Khorkina and later in 2016 by Aliya Mustafina.

After retiring from competitions, since 1972 Astakhova worked as a national coach in Ukraine. In 2002, she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[4] Astakhova spent the last years of her life in Kyiv before her death at age 68 from pneumonia.

Non-Olympic achievements

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Year Event AA Team VT UB BB FX
1956 USSR Championships 3rd 3rd 3rd
1957 USSR Championships 3rd
1958 World Championships 1st 3rd
USSR Championships 3rd 3rd 2nd 3rd
1959 European Championships 1st 1st
USSR Championships 1st 1st 2nd 1st
USSR Cup 1st 1st 3rd 1st
1960 USSR Championships 1st 2nd 1st
USSR Cup 1st
1961 European Championships 2nd 1st 1st 2nd
USSR Championships 2nd 1st 2nd
USSR Cup 2nd 1st
1962 World Championships 1st
USSR Championships 3rd 2nd 3rd
1963 USSR Championships 3rd 1st 2nd
USSR Cup 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st
1964 USSR Championships 2nd 1st
1965 USSR Championships 2nd 3rd
USSR Cup 1st
1966 World Championships 2nd
USSR Championships 3rd
1967 USSR Championships 3rd

See also

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References

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  • ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Polina Astakhova". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
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This article contains information from the website http://www.gymnast.ru/, incorporated into the Wikipedia with permission from its author E. V. Avsenev.