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.

Post-Olympic Sports Achievements

On July 3 1981 in Montreux,the 100th anniversary celebration of the International Gymnastics Federation took place. Davydova was invited to perform her famous floor exercise which she did twice and won a standing ovation from the people present.

Related Topics:
July 3 - 1981 - Montreux - International Gymnastics Federation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the 1981 USSR Championships - the number one national championships in the world at that time - Davydova won the All-Around title plus golds on floor and vault and bronze on bars.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Davydova also participated in the 1981 World Championships, her last major international event. She finished third in the all-around final after an improper landing in the balance beam event.Had she not sat down on her beam dismount she would have won gold. Davydova suffered a serious neck injury in pre-competition warm up but still finished 3rd AA and was the only gymnast from any nation to make all 4 event finals. She won silver on floor and bronze on bars. She would have won gold on vault but was unable to stand the incredibly difficult vault of her own invention, full twist on front tuck off. Jackie Fie, the US Head Judge on vault at the 81 World championships wrote that if the other vaults were to be marked out of 10 then Davydova's one should be scored out of 10.5. Davydova is the only one who has done a vault that a male gymnast hasn't. She remains the only IOC Olympic champion, since 1980, to have competed in a World Championships after she had won the Olympic AA title.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In October 1981 International Gymnast magazine (IG) chose Davydova as the model for their new IG pin, T-shirt and circulation add. The British Gymnast magazine's readers voted Davydova gymnast of the year in 80 and 81.At the British national championships for girls in 1982 Davydova was voted the favourite gymnast amongst the gymnasts taking part and was voted second favourite in 1983.

Related Topics:
1981 - 1982

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Davydova remained on the Soviet display team until 1984 but retired from competitive gymnastics in late 1982.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~