Lyudmila Turishcheva

Lyudmila Turishcheva of the Soviet Union ranks with Larysa Latynina as one of the two greatest Soviet female gymnasts ever. But Turishcheva never won the fans’ affections that were often reserved during her career for her teammates Olga Korbut and Nelli Kim. Turishcheva won nine Olympic medals, four of them gold. She was all-around champion at the 1972 Olympics, 1970 and 1974 World Championships, 1971 and 1973 European Championships and at the first World Cup in 1975, when she uniquely won all five individual events. She competed on winning Soviet all-around teams at the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Olympics, and the 1970 and 1974 World Championships. She later married Soviet sprint great Valeriy Borzov and became coach of the Soviet gymnastics teams.