Gymnast Larisa Latynina personal life. Larisa Latynina: Since childhood, I have strived to be the first in everything. Brief biography of Larisa Latynina

Larisa Semyonovna Latynina is a Soviet and Ukrainian gymnast, the most titled athlete in the world until 2012, winner of many sports titles and awards. She has 18 Olympic medals, 9 of which are gold.

The early childhood of Larisa Latynina, who was born in Kherson on the eve of the war, cannot be called cloudless. The girl's mother was a simple village woman, illiterate, but dreaming of a better fate for her daughter. The father left his wife and child when Laura was not yet a year old, so Larisa did not know him at all.

Mom Pelageya Anisimovna hoped that her husband would come to his senses and return, she wrote letters to him. On the eve of the war, the woman received an answer. The husband wrote that he regrets what happened and wants to see his daughter, and sent his photo. Perhaps this would have been the case, but the war intervened. Semyon Andreevich Diriy died in the Battle of Stalingrad without ever meeting his daughter. His name is engraved among thousands of other names on a monument in Volgograd.

Having survived the years of occupation and waited for victory, mother and daughter had difficulty making ends meet. Pelageya Anisimovna tried to give her daughter everything she needed so that her Lorochka would be no worse than other children. Mom worked two jobs (she was a cleaner and a stoker), and Larisa went to school and tried to study better than anyone else in order to meet her mother’s expectations.

Already from early childhood, the girl had a strong-willed character, a kind of steel core that forced her to be the best in games, in studies, and in hobbies. The latter did not prevent Laura from graduating from school with a gold medal, and this is the merit of both the purposeful girl, who dreamed of being the first in everything, and the mother, who held her daughter with a tight grip.

The future champion's first hobby was ballet. A paid studio was opened in the city, where Nikolai Vasilyevich Stesso taught. The girl dreamed of becoming a ballerina, and her mother could not refuse her, although the fee for classes was 50 rubles, almost half of her salary. Larisa made progress, dreaming of a career as a prima dancer at the Bolshoi Theater, but at the same time another hobby appeared in her life - artistic gymnastics.

The girl, who was used to being the first in everything, had a hard time: she was praised by both teachers, the choreographer Stesso, and the first coach Mikhail Sotnichenko. In addition, we could not forget about the school curriculum. The teachers each pulled her in their own direction. Life decided everything: the choreography studio closed, classes stopped, and the girl chose sports.

The basics of ballet gave the young gymnast plasticity, expressiveness and the ability to improvise, putting her soul into movements and sports exercises. Larisa quickly outpaced her friends in the gymnastics section, even though they were older and more experienced than her. The coach was afraid that she would be “arrogant” and tried to put the girl in her place, giving her impossible tasks. Mikhail Afanasyevich Sotnichenko taught Laura that she should be first not only in training and competitions in her sport, but also in Everyday life, always ready to help, to do something on an equal basis with others.

Sport

In the ninth grade, Larisa Diriy passed the standard for the first category, and in 1953 she graduated from school with a gold medal. It can't be said that sports biography The gymnast was flawless from the very beginning. In the life of the champion there were both victories and disappointing failures. So, at the 1950 All-Union Championship in Kazan, she performed unsuccessfully and cried alone for several hours.

The loss only inspired the strong-willed girl to new exploits. She began to train twice as much and soon became not only the first master of sports in her hometown, but also took fourth place at the Kharkov gymnastics championship among adult athletes.

In 1954, Larisa Diriy moved to Kyiv, entered the Polytechnic Institute and began training with Alexander Mishakov. The girl tried to keep up everywhere: she attended classes and lectures, prepared for competitions and sessions, took tests and went to international tournaments.

This could not continue for long; combining sports with studies became increasingly difficult. Larisa was offered an individual schedule of classes and tests, but she refused and transferred to the Institute of Physical Education in her second year.

At the thirteenth World Championships in Rome in 1954, Larisa Latynina, as part of the USSR national team, became the champion, earning first gold medal for floor exercises. International critics and gymnasts admired her, but this was only the beginning of a brilliant sports career, and Latynina’s main medals were still ahead.

Larisa Latynina became the Olympic champion in 1956 and 1960. The medalist won the championship as part of the national team in 1956, 1960 and 1964. The girl received four bronze medals for floor exercises, vault, uneven bars and beam exercises. Latynina’s silver came from uneven bars (twice), balance beam, vault and all-around, but the most striking performances took place in floor exercises: here the Ukrainian gymnast had no equal.

In 1956 she became an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. From 1954 to 1964, Larisa Semenovna won 21 victories at 11 world championships and 10 Olympics in the team championship. For this, Latynina was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

In 1963, in Tokyo, Latynina performed for the last time as captain of the Soviet gymnastics team, but then participated in international competitions for a couple of years, gradually receding into the background. So Laura taught young gymnasts the will to win, gradually passing on experience to them. It is not surprising that Larisa Latynina became the coach of the USSR national team and was so for ten years.

From 1966 to 1976 Larisa Latynina worked as a coach. Thanks to her leadership, the USSR women's team won gold medals at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. She raised and trained outstanding gymnasts, including Lyudmila Turishcheva, Olga Karaseva, Larisa Petrik, Lyubov Burda, Tamara Lazakovich, Nelly Kim, Antonina Koshel and others. In 1972 she was awarded the title “Honored Trainer of the USSR”.

Larisa Latynina's record for the number of gold medals and titles, which lasted half a century, was recently broken by an American athlete. He was ahead of the gymnast by only one award: the American has 23 Olympic gold medals.

She had no equal in fashion. She was always dressed in the latest fashion. The petite beauty (her height is 161 cm, and her weight is 52 kg) attracted the attention of others - her leather jacket, ruffled skirt and beret. Later, the gymnast admitted that this beauty was not easy for her. On trips abroad, I saved on food in order to buy some fashionable item, because at that time there was no such thing in Soviet stores. I also had to wear narrow shoes all the time, which caused my feet to become deformed with age. And only in 2001 the woman decided to have an operation - to remove a bone on her foot.

Personal life

At the dawn of her career, Larisa Latynina’s personal life was going well. Her first marriage and life with her husband Ivan Latynin cannot be called very happy, but this marriage did not bring grief to the athlete. In joint photos, the couple look happy, continuing to be friends and communicate today.

The future spouses met while still studying: Laura studied at the Polytechnic, Leningrader Ivan studied at the Marine Corps. They were pushed into marriage by Larisa’s mother, who immediately took a liking to Ivan. In 1958, Laura and Ivan had a daughter, Tatyana. By the way, Larisa competed at the world championship while she was five months pregnant, and no one even knew about it. The marriage broke up when the woman, after living with her husband for some time, realized that they were strangers to each other. During the breaks between competitions and training, this was somehow not noticed. They parted calmly, without scandals.

For Larisa, family always came second after sports, but she devotedly raised her daughter. Tatyana did not follow in her mother’s footsteps by choosing dancing. She danced in the Berezka ensemble and went on tour abroad, where she met her future husband Rostislav. At that time it was a scandal: the daughter of a Soviet champion was marrying a foreigner.

However, times are changing, Tatyana has long been happy with her husband, and grandmother Larisa has already nursed two grandchildren and acquired great-grandchildren. Today Tanya and Rostislav live in Moscow, the man has a business there - a chain of restaurants.

Larisa Latynina’s husbands are a separate page of her life, but she prefers not to remember one episode. Such an “episode” is the gymnast’s second husband, whose name she does not mention either in her memoirs or in any of the interviews. It is only known that she left Ivan Latynin for this man and gave him the best years of her life. From 36 to 46 years old, Larisa Semyonovna lived with this man, deceived by the illusion of love and receiving in return only grief and suffering.

The same mystery surrounds another chapter of her life. In addition to her daughter, Larisa also had a son, Andrei, whom she loved madly. The son died. The champion managed to survive this tragedy, but the grief remained forever in her memory, heart and soul. The cause of death of Latynina’s son is not mentioned in the press, and his mother prefers not to advertise the details.

A meeting with a man, her third husband, with whom she had been together since 1985, helped Larisa Semyonovna recover from her loss. Yuri Feldman met his future wife at a recreation center. The love story of these two people deserves special attention. Starting with small talk, chance meeting developed into a romance and culminated in marriage.

Today the couple live in their own home. Larisa Semyonovna’s main hobby is gardening. She takes great pleasure in farming, raising livestock and poultry, finding happiness in simple family joys, which she so lacked in her busy sporting youth. True, in 2000 she suffered a stroke. And her daughter Tatyana categorically forbade her to stand upside down over the beds. But since she loves this business very much, Yuri made beds for her in greenhouses in boxes that reach her waist. And now she takes care of the plants without bending over.

In the same year, at the Olympic Ball, Latynina was included in the top ten best athletes in Russia of the 20th century. In the fall of 2004, Larisa Semenovna opened a gymnastics school in Obninsk.

Once in an interview, a woman admitted that in addition to sports, she always gravitated toward television journalism. She even hosted “Blue Light” in Ukraine in the 60s, and together with Vladimir Maslachenko she commented on the May Day parade of athletes. But nothing serious came of it. But Larisa Latynina is the author of several books, including her autobiographical memoirs entitled “Balance”, in which she told not only the story of her success, but also about the people who helped her achieve this success.

Also, several documentaries have been made about her life and achievements - the film “Monologue” was released in 2007, and “Legends of Sports” in 2017.

Larisa Latynina now

Today Larisa Semyonovna leads a non-public lifestyle; due to her age, the woman does not have Instagram or other social networks. But sometimes he still gives comments on this or that situation.

For example, in February 2017, it became known that her ward, a performer of the most difficult gymnastic element “dead loop”, which later received her name, sold her medals and earned 10 million rubles from them.

Larisa Semyonovna said that she was shocked to learn this. The woman suggested that Olga, who moved to America in 1991, had an extremely difficult financial situation. But Latynina is sincerely saddened by what happened, since she also had a hand in their conquest.

Of course, Larisa Semyonovna understands that athletes are not obliged to share awards with coaches. Although she herself, having returned from the Olympics in Melbourne, where she managed to win 4 gold medals, immediately gave one of them to her first coach, Mikhail Afanasyevich Sotnichenko. She believes that if it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have any medals at all. By the way, the coach kept it all his life. And after his death, his wife returned the award to Latynina.

Awards

• 1954 – gold medal at the World Championships in Rome (team)
• 1956 – gold medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne (team)
• 1956 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne (freestyle)
• 1956 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne (all-around)
• 1956 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne (vault)
• 1957 – gold medal at the European Championships in Bucharest (all-around)
• 1957 – gold medal at the European Championships in Bucharest (uneven bars)
• 1957 – gold medal at the European Championships in Bucharest (vault)
• 1957 – gold medal at the European Championships in Bucharest (beam)
• 1957 – gold medal at the European Championships in Bucharest (freestyle)
• 1958 – gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow (team)
• 1958 – gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow (all-around)
• 1958 – gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow (vault)
• 1958 – gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow (uneven bars)
• 1958 – gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow (beam)
• 1960 – gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rome (team)
• 1960 – gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rome (all-around)
• 1960 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rome (freestyle)
• 1961 – gold medal at the European Championships in Leipzig (all-around)
• 1961 – gold medal at the European Championships in Leipzig (freestyle)
• 1962 – gold medal at the World Championships in Prague (team)
• 1962 – gold medal at the World Championships in Prague (all-around)
• 1962 – gold medal at the World Championships in Prague (freestyle)
• 1964 – gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics (team)
• 1964 - gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (freestyle)

Larisa Semyonovna Latynina (nee Diriy). Born on December 27, 1934 in Kherson (Ukrainian SSR). Soviet gymnast, nine-time Olympic champion (1956, 1960, 1964). Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1956). Honored Coach of the USSR (1972). Honored Worker of Physical Culture Russian Federation.

Larisa Diriy, who became world famous under the name Latynina, was born on December 27, 1934 in Kherson (Ukrainian SSR).

Father - Semyon Andreevich Diriy (1906-1943), died at the front during the Battle of Stalingrad during the Great Patriotic War.

Mother - Pelageya Anisimovna Barabanyuk (1902-1975), worked as a cleaner during the day, and as a stoker or watchman at night.

Her parents separated when Larisa was only eleven months old. Nevertheless, she retained warm memories of her father. On the eve of the war, he sent her mother a letter with the words: “Polenka, I understood a lot, I am very guilty before you and before Laura.” Then they received notification that their father had died at Stalingrad. Years later, a military man sent Larisa a clipping from an old newspaper, which said that the commander of a machine gun unit, Diriy Semyon Andreevich, defended a tractor plant in the center of the city and died a heroic death.

Her mother raised her alone; the family lived poorly.

From an early age, Larisa had a fighting spirit and a desire to be the first in everything. She recalled how, as a very little girl, she ran in a race with the boys in the yard - when she saw that she was lagging behind, she “like a fish” jumped forward to the finish line, drove on the asphalt with her bare knees and palms, and was left with a scar for the rest of her life.

As a child, she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. Enrolled in a choreographic studio at the Kherson House folk art. They were taught by teacher Nikolai Vasilyevich Stesso, who studied with Vaganova and danced at the Mariinsky Theater. However, the studio closed a year later. Latynina admitted: “This was the first big tragedy in my life.”

Then she decided to do gymnastics. Since her mother set the condition - to study well at school - Larisa became an excellent student. And as a result, she graduated from secondary school No. 14 in the city of Kherson with a gold medal.

In gymnastics since the fifth grade. Her first coach was Mikhail Sotnichenko. She began to study very actively and quickly overtook all her friends who came to the section before her.

In 1950, she completed her first sports category and, as part of the national team of schoolchildren of the Ukrainian SSR, entered the All-Union Championship in Kazan.

In the ninth grade, Latynina fulfilled the standard for Master of Sports of the USSR.

After graduating from school, she entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute and continued training under the guidance of Alexander Semenovich Mishakov.

At the all-Union training camp in Bratsevo, she successfully passed the qualifying tests for the World Festival of Youth and Students in Bucharest, where she received her first gold medals. She played for the voluntary sports society “Burevestnik” (Kyiv).

In 1954, at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rome, the USSR women's team won first place, and Larisa Latynina (then under her maiden name Diriy) received the first gold medal as a world champion.

After the second year, she transferred from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute to the Kiev state institute physical education, where she combined study with performances at sports competitions at various levels. In the spring of 1959 she graduated from the institute with honors.

1956 was a triumphant year for her - at her debut Olympics in Melbourne she took 4 golds(team, all-around, floor and vault), as well as silver on uneven bars and bronze in the group.

The return from Melbourne was triumphant: the champions were received in the Kremlin by the top officials of the state - Khrushchev and Voroshilov. However, this did not bother 22-year-old Latynina, and she made a very daring toast on behalf of the winners. “Do you know why we fought like that in the Olympic arenas? We were afraid that if we lost, Nikita Sergeevich would sow all the stadiums with corn,” the four-time Olympic champion shocked everyone. Fortunately, the higher ranks appreciated such unique humor at the height of the “corn” campaign and did not take any measures against the gymnast.

In 1960, at the Olympics in Rome, Larisa Latynina won 3 golds- in the team, all-around and floor exercises, also took silver on uneven bars and beam, bronze in vault.

In addition, in 1958 and 1962 she became the absolute world champion. She repeatedly became the world champion in the team championship, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.

Speaking at the XIV World Championships, held from July 6 to 10, 1958 in Moscow, Latynina, being in her fifth month of pregnancy, won 5 gold medals (team all-around, individual all-around, vault, uneven bars, beam) and 1 silver ( floor exercise).

“Sometimes I start counting all my sports awards, and I get so confused somewhere between the numbers 140 and 150. People sometimes ask me: “Which medal is especially dear to you?” Of course, we cannot forget about the first and, probably, the last - a sign of an imminent parting with active sports... I cannot help but mention the awards of the World Championships in 1958. Then on the platform I was thinking not so much about the prizes and a possible place in the table, but about that I’m about to have a baby,” she said.

Absolute European champion in 1957 (at this European Championship she won all the gold medals) and 1961. European champion in 1957 in floor exercises, vault, uneven bars and balance beam, and 1961 in floor exercises.

The last time Larisa Latynina appeared on the Dortmund platform in the uniform of the USSR national team was when she was already 32 years old.

Latynina is the first Soviet athlete whose name is included in the Olympic Hall of Fame in New York.

Member of the CPSU since 1963.

From 1966 to 1977, Larisa Latynina was the senior coach of the USSR women's artistic gymnastics team. Under her leadership, the team became Olympic gold medalists three times (1968, 1972, 1976). In 1976, after the Soviet gymnasts lost the overall championship in Montreal to the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, State Sports Committee officials “advised” Latynina to leave, citing the fact that her training methods were allegedly outdated.

From 1975 to 1980, she was a member of the organizing committee of the Olympics-80 under the leadership of Ignatius Novikov, to whom the USSR Olympic Committee transferred the rights and functions for the preparation and holding of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

In 1990-1992 she worked as deputy director at the Physical Education and Health Charity Foundation.

In 1997-1999, she held the position of Deputy General Director of the joint Russian-German enterprise Hephaestus.

In the 2000s, she became one of the public leaders of the Union of Athletes of Russia and actively participated in the work of the Russian Association of Olympic Champions. She often served on the jury of sports dance competitions.

Until 2012, with 18 medals, nine of which were gold, she was the most titled athlete in history. And only the outstanding American swimmer Michael Phelps managed to surpass the achievement of the great Latynina.

Larisa Latynina's height: 161 centimeters.

Personal life of Larisa Latynina:

She was married twice.

First husband- Ivan Ilyich Latynin. I met him while still a schoolgirl, when students from the nautical school were invited to a holiday. Her mother liked Ivan and began visiting them. They got married in 1955, when Larisa was studying at the institute - her mother insisted on marriage.

She recalled about her first husband: “In principle, my Ivan Ilyich and I lived normally. I disappeared all the time at training camps and competitions. When I came home, we generally communicated well. There was no terrible love, but then school hobby which grew into our marriage, I tried to maintain... But as soon as my sports schedule changed and I began to stay at home much more often, I realized that, in general, we were completely different people. Both in character and in views. “Something began to irritate me, something began to strain me... We had to part.”

The marriage gave birth to a daughter, Tatyana Ivanovna Latynina, in December 1958; she danced for fifteen years in the State Academic Choreographic Ensemble “Beryozka” named after N.S. Nadezhda. Son-in-law - Rostislav Vadimovich Ordovsky-Tanaevsky Blanco, businessman. Grandchildren - Konstantin (born 1981) and Vadim (born 1994).

Also in his first marriage, a son, Andrei, was born, who died tragically.

Then she had a long-term relationship - about 10 years - with a man whom she subsequently did not like to remember. Larisa said: “This is the man whom I loved at first. He shocked me with his intelligence, amazing memory, the way he looked after me - everything that I did not see from my husband. And I gave in like a woman, and then it was very difficult I paid for it in life. Best years- somewhere from thirty-six to forty-six years old - went nowhere. There were very strong experiences - betrayal, resentment, and humiliation. I wouldn't wish this on any woman. For myself, I erased these years from my life and will never return to them. Thank God, gymnastics saved me at that time.”

Second husband- Yuri Izrailevich Feldman (born 1938), Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the Academy of Electrotechnical Sciences of the Russian Federation and the International Academy of Electrotechnical Sciences, former President, General Director of JSC Joint-Stock Electrical Engineering Company Dynamo.

They met in 1985, shortly before her 51st birthday, at the Voronovo holiday home. We've been together ever since.

Sports achievements of Larisa Latynina:

Olympic Games:

Gold - Melbourne 1956 - team;
Gold - Melbourne 1956 - all-around;
Gold - Melbourne 1956 - freestyle;
Gold - Melbourne 1956 - vault;
Silver - Melbourne 1956 - bars;
Bronze - Melbourne 1956 - group;
Gold - Rome 1960 - team;
Gold - Rome 1960 - all-around;
Gold - Rome 1960 - freestyle;
Silver - Rome 1960 - bars;
Silver - Rome 1960 - log;
Bronze - Rome 1960 - vault;
Gold - Tokyo 1964 - team;
Gold - Tokyo 1964 - freestyle;
Silver - Tokyo 1964 - all-around;
Silver - Tokyo 1964 - vault;
Bronze - Tokyo 1964 - uneven bars;
Bronze - Tokyo 1964 - log

World Championships:

Gold - Rome 1954 - team;
Gold - Moscow 1958 - team;
Gold - Moscow 1958 - all-around;
Gold - Moscow 1958 - vault;
Gold - Moscow 1958 - bars;
Gold - Moscow 1958 - log;
Silver - Moscow 1958 - freestyle;
Gold - Prague 1962 - team;
Gold - Prague 1962 - all-around;
Gold - Prague 1962 - freestyle;
Silver - Prague 1962 - vault;
Silver - Prague 1962 - log;
Bronze - Prague 1962 - bars;
Silver - Dortmund 1966 - team

European Championships:

Gold - Bucharest 1957 - all-around;
Gold - Bucharest 1957 - vault;
Gold - Bucharest 1957 - uneven bars;
Gold - Bucharest 1957 - log;
Gold - Bucharest 1957 - freestyle;
Gold - Leipzig 1961 - all-around;
Gold - Leipzig 1961 - freestyle;
Silver - Leipzig 1961 - uneven bars;
Silver - Leipzig 1961 - log;
Silver - Sofia 1965 - all-around;
Silver - Sofia 1965 - bars;
Silver - Sofia 1965 - log;
Silver - Sofia 1965 - freestyle;
Bronze - Sofia 1965 - vault

Bibliography of Larisa Latynina:

1958 - Sunny youth;
1970, 1975 - Equilibrium;
1974 - What is the name of this girl;
1977 - Gymnastics through the years;
1977 Team

Awards and titles of Larisa Latynina:

1957 - Order of Lenin - for the successes achieved in the development of a mass physical education movement in the country, improving the skills of Soviet athletes, and successful performance in international competitions;
1960 - Order of the Badge of Honor - for successful performances in the XVII Summer and VIII Winter Olympic Games of 1960, as well as for outstanding sporting achievements;
1965 - Order of the Badge of Honor - for successful performances at the XVIII Summer and IX Winter Olympic Games and outstanding sporting achievements;
1972 - Order of the Badge of Honor - for success in the development of the mass physical education movement in the country and the high achievements of Soviet athletes at the XX Summer Olympic Games;
1980 - Order of Friendship of Peoples - for great work in preparing and holding the Games of the XXII Olympiad;
1956 - “Honored Master of Sports of the USSR”;
1972 - “Honored Trainer of the USSR”;
1997 - medal “In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow” - for significant contribution to the development of Moscow;
1999 - Order of Honor - for merits in the development of physical culture and sports, great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between peoples;
2004 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree - for his great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports and many years of conscientious work;
2010 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree - for his great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports and many years of conscientious work;
2015 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree - for great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, active social activities;
1997 - “Honored Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation” - for services in the development of physical culture and sports;
2002 - Order of Princess Olga, III degree - for significant personal contribution to the development of physical culture and sports in Ukraine, achieving high sports results at the Olympic Games;
1991 - Silver Olympic Order of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) - for outstanding services

Latynina is the most titled athlete on the planet! She won 18 Olympic medals, of which 9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze. She is a two-time absolute champion of the Olympics, world, Europe and the USSR.

Latynina admitted that she does not like to train. She said that she doesn’t like everything that only precedes gymnastics, but in itself is not gymnastics. She loved to perform. Probably many famous athletes think the same. But only Latynina admitted this, spoke publicly. She has such a difficult character - to think and speak without prevarication. And this, in the end, always helped her to establish herself in the infallibility of her choice, to creatively analyze her every step towards her intended goal.

Larisa Semenovna Latynina was born on December 27, 1934. She grew up in post-war Kherson without a father. At that time her name was Larisa Diriy. In her early childhood, Larisa studied in a choreography club. I started gymnastics in the fifth grade. Her first coach was Mikhail Afanasyevich Sotnichenko. In 1950, Diriy became a first-class student and, as part of the national team of Ukrainian schoolchildren, went to the All-Union Championship in Kazan. However, she performed unsuccessfully in the capital of Tatarstan.

After that failure, Larisa trained twice a day. In the fall, he and Sotnichenko began working on a program for masters. Pretty soon she became the first master of sports in her hometown. Speaking according to an updated program at the adult championship of the republic in Kharkov, Larisa took fourth place. Larisa refused all tempting offers to move to another city.

She graduated from school with a gold medal and in 1954 entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. Once, because of a trip to a competition, I took chemistry later. An elderly teacher asked: “Why didn’t you show up for the test along with everyone else?” Having heard that the student was performing at a gymnastics tournament in Paris, she was indignant: “Girl, this is the Order of Lenin Polytechnic Institute! Here you need to study day and night, and not tumble around abroad!”

IN next year Larisa already studied at the Kiev Infizkult. In June of the same year, Diriy went as part of the USSR national team to Rome for the next, thirteenth World Championship. The team won a difficult fight. Larisa was unable to complete all the apparatus smoothly and remained far behind the medalists in the all-around. Floor exercises are another matter. The famous German gymnast G. Dikhut wrote: “We see very rarely what young Larisa Diriy showed us... It was the purest acrobatic work, which demonstrated both an excellent ballet school and a wonderful musical flair, which ensures harmony in complex exercises. This is an exemplary demonstration of world-class craftsmanship.” This is how she became the world champion for the first time.

In Kyiv, Larisa trained with Mishakov. Semenych taught his players to think and solve problems independently at every training session. However, he recognized improvisation within very narrow limits. “You first learn, repeat, and then wait for the spark of God,” he said. Mishakov was very stingy with praise. He peered, squinted and rarely smiled. In March 1956, Larisa won major international competitions in Kyiv against Tamara Manina, Sonya Muratova, and Gali Shamray. Behind were Eva Bosakova and Agnes Keleti. In addition to the all-around, Larisa also won three events. But Semenych was dissatisfied: he had to win the floor exercises against Bosakova!

And then came December 3, 1956 - the opening of gymnastics competitions in Olympic Melbourne. There were three left from the '54 team: Muratova, Manina and Latynina.

Before the rest day, the USSR team came out on top and won more points. In the all-around, Romanian Elena Leusteanu was in first place, Sonya Muratova was in second place, and Larisa was in third place. The leaders were separated by thousandths of a point. Larisa, oddly enough, was not worried. And why? “Third place is very good for you,” the subtle psychologist Mishakov told her, “but you still have to hold on.” And she thought about how to hold on.

In her book “Balance” Latynina wrote:

“Do everything as you have already done,” I repeated to myself before the jump. I don’t know if it was the high automatism of the skill, as I was told later, or something else, but of the entire jump I only remembered landing on the board. I found out later that the score was the highest of the whole day. Also later, when all the participants had already jumped off, it became clear that I had a gold and Tamara had a silver Olympic medal. In Melbourne, we last competed for medals for exercises at the same time as the fight for the title of absolute champion.

And I must say that with this system I did not fully feel the first victory. But then the freestyle passed, and Agnes Keleti and I had the greatest and equal amounts. I was still unconsciously happy about this victory, and then I realized it as a personal achievement, as an advantage of style.

Apparently, during these hours I believed in myself, after the break I performed easily and calmly on the uneven bars and received the highest score for women of all days in Melbourne - 9.6. This gave me a total of second place for Keleti and a silver medal. Now in the afternoon we switched places: Agnes finished performing, and I led a kind of pursuit race. However, I must say quite frankly that this only became clear to me before the last shell. It would be enough for me to get 9 points, and I would become the absolute champion of the Olympic Games. Sonya would need 9.5 for this, and Tamara, by Melbourne standards, would have to get a completely fantastic score - 9.8. So, it was most realistic for me to solve the problem. But... didn’t Keleti consider her task in Rome just as unrealistic? I knew that now the Hungarian gymnasts were watching us, just as we once watched Agnes’s jumps. Did they expect accidents? Perhaps, if there were no accidents, no surprises, sport would not be sport, gymnastics would not be gymnastics.

So, balance on a beam. It was that moment of the XVI Olympic Games when calm left me. At first I felt like a enslaved dummy on the beam, and then, when the movements finally gained ease, I thought: don’t fall off, don’t fall off. This is a very bad refrain. Under it you forget about everything else. Well, can an actor... ignite the viewer if during a monologue he repeats to himself: “Don’t forget, don’t forget.” He won't forget, but he will be quickly forgotten. After Melbourne I managed to get rid of this refrain. It seemed that not a minute and a half, but an hour and a half passed until I jumped off the log. Here's the score. I don’t have time to perceive it yet, but I understand, since Lina and Lida kiss and hug me and all the girls run to me, it’s a victory!”

After the Olympics, at a government reception in the Kremlin in the presence of Khrushchev and Voroshilov, Larisa shocked everyone by making a toast on behalf of the champions: “Do you know why we fought like that in the Olympic arenas? We were afraid that if we lost, Nikita Sergeevich would sow all the stadiums with corn.”

Another evidence of Latynina’s highest level of skill was the first European Championship, which brought together virtually all the strongest gymnasts. Larisa was in the lead from the very first exercise and achieved a convincing victory in the all-around and in individual exercises.

In December 1957, Latynina lost the USSR championship to Muratova. But that was not what bothered Larisa. She was expecting a child. In July 1958, pregnant Latynina, as if nothing had happened, performed at the world championship, being in her fifth month. But how! She not only excelled in the all-around, but also took gold in the vault and uneven bars. The girl, who was named Tatyana, was born on time and healthy. Years later, the daughter, showing the 1958 medal, will smile: “We won it together with my mother.”

After the birth of the child, many thought that Larisa would no longer be able to win in the gymnastics arena. And they began to predict Polina Astakhova to be the new leader of Soviet gymnastics.

“Now, when I return to the games in Rome, I clearly understand,” Latynina recalled, “that it is simply impossible to talk about our competitions there and not talk about my fight with Lina...

We performed in the evening, and there was still a whole day of anxiety. The team is the strongest, they said about us that they should worry. Indeed, we beat the Czech gymnasts by more than four points.

And again jumping. I jumped onto the platform with a ball. Do you think you have forgotten how to compete? My score is 9.433, and I win back almost everything she accumulated on the first day from Lina in one form. But the next event is the uneven bars, where Polina was then, of course, unsurpassed. Here she returns her tenth. Then the log. Before him, I remembered Rome, red-hot six years ago, and one moment that deprived Tamara Manina of her hopes for the title of world champion, and her bewildered face. Yes, all this happened, it was a long time ago. And now - forward. And, as always, don’t think about the assessment, don’t think about the danger, don’t think about your rivals. Think about how to perform better, showing everything you can, spiritualizing your skill with feeling.

But after the projectile, emotions are emotions, and struggle is struggle. Practical language- 9.7. I knew it was high praise. Sonya got 9.66 after me. If Polina had received a grade equal to mine, I would not have been able to catch up with her; if equal to Sonina, before the last look she would have been one tenth ahead of me. I believed that I could win it back - freestyle was ahead. I'm talking about these two assessments. For more, you had to take risks, as Eva Bosakova did in the morning, receiving 9.766. But Eve could afford the risk; she did not claim absolute championship; exercises on the balance beam were her only chance for a medal. Lina was thinking about another medal, and when the struggle intensified, she apparently trembled a little. A little. It cost her a lot. And Polina did not have enough balance. She fell and was eliminated with a score of 8.733 from the competition for the championship.

One and a half minutes of music, as well as ninety seconds of movements, is probably not enough to leave a very deep impression. And yet, fused together, they can say a lot. In these moments, everything depends on you. Don't think about how to pass the diagonal and get into a standing position, don't waste the last minutes trying to repeat the flies. Think about one thing - how best to convey everything you want to say with your movements, what each of them serves. Then, in Rome, I knew this. I really wanted these freestyle events to become an event not only for me. I started and finished them in one breath. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I meticulously listened to the noise of applause. And even before the judges’ score - 9.9 - I knew: I accomplished what I set out to do.

And here are the results of the absolute championship: I am first, Sonya Muratova is second, Lina is third, Rita Nikolaeva is fourth, Lida Ivanova is seventh. A zero score on balance beam set Tamara Lyukhina back a long way, but she also received a gold medal for the team victory. As a team, we beat the Czech girls by almost nine points, and the day of the finals was our day.”

“The Soviet gymnasts,” wrote Gianni Rodari in Paese Sera, “gave on television the most beautiful representation of the Olympic Games. We have never seen anything more beautiful than this spectacle of beauty, grace and harmony...”

The USSR national team went to the 64 Olympics with a greatly updated squad. According to Latynina, the coaches should have placed their bets on one gymnast: either her or Astakhova. Then there was a real chance to win the overall champion medal.

Back in 1963, Latynina managed to win the pre-Olympic competition against Chaslavskaya at the Japanese Open. But... Larisa performed evenly, almost the same as in Rome: uneven bars - second place, beam - second, vault - third, floor - first. Successful, smooth, but lacked brilliance, external effect, what a real champion should always have.

However, Latynina simply did not have the right to end her Olympic journey with defeat. And as always, she performed her favorite freestyles brilliantly.

In Tokyo, Latynina was the last time the captain of the Soviet gymnastics team - the winner of the Olympics. But she remained on the team for several more years, appeared on the stage next to the newcomers, lost to them, meekly playing second roles in the play, where she had shone as a soloist for so many seasons, and taught the girls to win.

It is natural that Larisa Latynina became the head coach of the USSR women's national team, and remained so for ten whole years. Under her leadership, our team won Olympic gold medals three times in 1968, 1972, 1976. For five years, Latynina was a member of the Organizing Committee of the Olympics-80, then she was responsible for the development of gymnastics at the Moscow Sports Committee.

Today, at her dacha - near the famous architectural monument of the 18th century "Otrada" in Semenovsky above the Lopasnya River - Larisa Semenovna has raised an entire farm: rabbits, pigs, sheep...

“Since childhood, I have loved pets,” says Larisa Semyonovna. - But life happened in such a way that I was always far from them. And now I’m a pensioner, and when the opportunity arose to start this farm, I gladly took the opportunity. And then, this is not self-indulgence...

All my life, while I was performing, training, while I was going to training camps and competitions, I had no time to take care of my home or apartment. And now I fulfill my purely feminine duties with such pleasure. I’m cooking, waiting for Yura to get home from work - this is my husband. The Lord sent me a wonderful man, with him I experience true feminine happiness. Next to me is my beloved and loving person, my daughter lives very close to us with two grandchildren. I am happy to help them: cook, clean, iron. This is not a burden to me at all. On the contrary, I feel some kind of pleasure from this. So, as you can see, life in retirement can be happy too.”

Daughter Tanya did not become a gymnast. After graduating from school at the ensemble of Igor Moiseev, she entered the famous “Berezka”, with which she traveled all over the world. While on tour in Venezuela, I met my future husband. His son-in-law, who has Russian roots, is called Rostislav; it is not surprising that the chain of restaurants he opened is called “Rostiks”.

She dreamed of ballet and studied in a choreographic studio in the Kherson House of Folk Art. Due to the circumstances, Latynina had to give up dancing, and in the fifth grade she enrolled in the school gymnastics section. Her first coach was Mikhail Sotnichenko. In the ninth grade I fulfilled the standard for a master of sports.

In 1953, after graduating from school with a gold medal, Larisa Latynina moved to Kyiv, entered the Polytechnic Institute and continued training under the guidance of the Honored Trainer of the USSR Alexander Mishakov. After the second year I moved from the Polytechnic Institute to the Institute of Physical Culture. She combined her studies with performances in competitions at various levels, and soon her first major success came: as a member of the USSR national team in 1954 in Rome, she became the world champion.

In 1956, the athlete made her debut at the Olympic Games in Melbourne. The debut was successful - the Soviet gymnast became absolute Olympic champion, opening an account of his unique collection of Olympic medals.