Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the 2004 Summer Olympics. During her career, Khorkina won seven Olympic medals and twenty World Championship medals. Over time, she medaled in every event at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She was also the first gymnast to win three all-around titles at the World Championships and only the second female artistic gymnast ever, after Nadia Comăneci, to win three European All-Around titles. Khorkina is regarded as one of the most successful female gymnasts of all time.
Khorkina in 2017
Khorkina received the Order of Honour from Russian President Vladimir Putin on 8 June 2001.
The sport complex of the Belgorod State University, named in honour of Khorkina, in Belgorod, her native city
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the Code of Points used to score performances and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations such as British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
A gymnast performing on the parallel bars in 1962.
Image: D Hypolito Vault
Image: 2018 10 14 Gymnastics at 2018 Summer Youth Olympics – Boys' Artistic Gymnastics – Apparatus finals – Vault (Martin Rulsch) 176
Image: 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships Vault Ksenia Afanasyeva 08