Yelena Davydova

Yelena Victorovna Davydova (Russian:?????? ??????????? ?????????) (born August 7, 1961 in Voronezh, 400 miles south of Moscow), is a Russian (former Soviet) gymnast, winner of the Olympic all-around title in Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Childhood Training

Davydova became interested in gymnastics at age six after seeing on television the famous Soviet Olympic gold medallists Larissa Petrik and Natalya Kuchinskaya. She attempted alone to be enrolled in Voronezh's famous Spartak Gymnastics school, yet was turned away, as she was very small, and considered at the time to have the wrong physique for the sport. Rather than giving up however, she secretly watched the lessons through windows and tried to imitate in the schoolyard what she had observed.

Related Topics:
Larissa Petrik - Natalya Kuchinskaya

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Soon a coach at the school, Gennady Korshunov, noticed her and invited into the school. He asked his wife, Irina, also a gymnastics coach at the school, to train Davydova in her group. Yuri Shtukman, the administrator at the school, did not like this initiative by his new training staff and reprimanded the Korshunovs; however he allowed Davydova to stay in the school. It soon became apparent that she was a talented gymnast and Gennady took over her coaching himself. By 1972 Davydova was the best in her age group at the school.

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