Larisa Latynina had a path named after her in the Olympic Village of the 2000 Sydney Games. Known as the `Larisa Latynina way', it reminded people of one of the most revered gymnasts of the former Soviet Union.
Latynina, born in Ukraine, won a total of 18 medals (nine golds, five silvers and four bronzes) at the Olympics - 14 of them in individual events.
Inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1998, Latynina won her first Olympic medal as a 21-year-old in the women's floor exercise in Melbourne in 1956. She successfully defended the title at the next Games in Rome by which time she was already a mother. Latynina won a medal in every event - gold in all-around, floor exercise and team event; silver on the uneven bars and balance beam and a bronze on the vault.
When she brought the curtain down on her distinguished Olympic career at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Latynina, aged 29, was into graduation study at the Kiev Physical Training Institute. In Tokyo, she won the floor exercise gold for the third time. Latynina also picked up another gold medal in the team event, apart from two silvers (all-around and vault) and two bronzes (uneven bars and balance beam).
The Soviet Union rewarded Latynina by posting her as the national team coach. She was in charge of the Soviet team from 1967 to 1977 and later, at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, she was put in charge of the gymnastics organisation.
The International Olympic Committee recognised her influence on the sport by conferring the Olympic Order in 1989. In a sport dominated by teenage prodigies, the Ukraine great remained at the top for a decade before retiring at the age of 31. By then, she had already made plans for a coaching career in addition to promoting gymnastics among the youth.
Nandakumar Marar
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