Olga Korbut Biography

Olga Valentinovna Korbut is a former Soviet gymnast who won six Olympic medals for her country and earned the title of ‘The Sparrow from Minsk’. During period of the Cold War, she also served as an unofficial goodwill liaison between the Soviet Union and the United States. Born in Belarus, she started her training as a gymnast at a very young age. After becoming skilled in back flips and somersaults, she first displayed her talent at an event in USSR and received much appreciation for her skills. A year after that, the rising gymnast took home a gold medal at a national meet and went on to attend her first international championship. She performed exceptionally in her first Olympic Games (1972 Munich Olympics), winning three gold medals and a silver medal for her country. Her superlative performance made her an overnight star and brought her much fame across the globe. In the next few years, she continued her success runs and earned numerous medals in championships around the world. Even though her medal tally and skill level alone are eternally inspiring, she is most respected for her originality and charm that caused a worldwide surge in the sport's popularity. She brought qualities to Olympic gymnastics that few had seen before and to this day, the ‘Korbutsalto’ and ‘Korbut Flip’ remain quite popular in international gymnastics.