Top five Olympic gymnasts of all time

The 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics is officially scheduled to get underway from July 26 in Paris. The event, which will also be hosted across 16 other cities in France, concludes on August 11.

Artistic Gymnastics run from July 27 to August 5, while Rhythmic Gymnastics is scheduled for August 8-10.

The Porte de la Chapelle Arena and Bercy Arena will host the gymnastics events.

From Larisa Latynina to Nadia Comaneci, here are the top five female Olympic gymnasts of all time.

Larisa Latynina (Soviet Union)

Larisa Latynina is the most successful gymnast in the history of the Olympic Games. She has a total of 18 medals to her name, with nine of them being gold, five being silver, and four bronze. Latynina achieved this success across three editions of the games, which were 1956, 1960, and 1964.

In her debut Olympic edition in Melbourne, Latynina won four golds, a silver, and a bronze medal at the age of 21. All gold medals came in artistic gymnastics events, including floor exercise, horse vault, individual all-around, and team all-around. Latynina won the silver medal in the uneven bars event and the bronze in the team portable apparatus category. The Ukrainian-born Russian, however, missed out on a medal in the balance beam event, as she finished fourth in the category.

Latynina further participated in the 1960 Rome Olympics and won a medal in every event that she participated in. In that edition, defending her gold medals in the events floor exercise, individual all-around, and team all-around, Latynina overall won three golds, two silvers, and a bronze medal.

The Russian carried on her victorious drive at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as well. The gymnast’s dominance in floor exercise and team all-around events was on display as she won gold medals in both categories. Apart from the two, Latynina also won two silver and two bronze medals in the edition that would be her last one.

Latynina retired in 1966 but is still the gymnast, male or female, with the most Olympic gold medals in her account. Apart from the Olympics, Latynina also competed at several World Championship editions, winning nine golds, four silvers, and a bronze medal in individual and team events. While competing at the European Championships between 1957 and 1965, Latynina bagged seven golds, six silvers, and a bronze medal.

After her retirement, Latynina served as the coach of the Soviet national gymnastics team until 1977. Under her guidance, the Soviet women’s team won gold medals in the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Olympics. In 1998, Latynina was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame for her achievements in the sport.

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Vera Caslavska (Czechoslovakia)

Born in 1942, Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia has the second most Olympic medals to her name (11). Caslavska made her Olympic debut at the 1960 Rome Olympics and competed in two more editions of the games: 1964 and 1968.

In her maiden appearance, Caslavska couldn’t win an individual medal. However, she contributed to her team’s achievement of winning a silver medal in the team all-around event.

The 1964 Olympics brought a breakthrough for Caslavska as she won three individual gold medals in the events: the balance beam, horse vault, and individual all-around. She also helped her team win a silver medal in Tokyo.

Furthermore, at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the Czech truly showed her class as she won a medal in every event that she participated in. Her achievement makes a difference, particularly considering the way she managed to compete. Prior to the games, Caslavska had lost her training facilities due to the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Caslavska was involved in protesting activities in Prague and had to hide in forests and mountains to avoid her arrest. After three weeks, the government allowed Caslavska to join the Czech Olympic team. However, she received support from the people of Mexico and went on to win four gold and two silver medals in the city.

Caslavska, in her career, competed at several World Championship editions, winning four golds, five silvers, and a bronze medal. While at the European Championships, Caslavska bagged 11 golds, a silver, and a bronze medal each. She still remains the only gymnast to win all five European individual golds twice.

Due to her support for the Czechoslovak democratization movement in 1968, Caslavska was not allowed to travel abroad or participate in public sports events, forcing her to retire from the sport. However, with the end of the communist government in Czechoslovakia in 1989, the status quo improved, and Caslavska was made an adviser to the president on sports and social matters.

Considering the Czech rebel’s achievements, she was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 and the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1998. Caslavska even has an inner main belt asteroid (26986), named after her.

Agnes Keleti (Hungary)

Ágnes Keleti, Hungary’s greatest-ever gymnast, competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. Keleti stands third on the list of most successful female Olympians, with 10 medals (five gold, three silver, and two bronze) in her account.

At the age of 31, the 1952 Helsinki Games were Keleti’s maiden Olympics assignment, where she won four medals, of which two were shared with her Hungarian teammates in team all-around and team portable apparatus events. Keleti’s first individual gold came in the floor exercise event at the same edition.

At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Keleti defended her floor exercise gold and won four gold and two silver medals overall. Apart from the Olympics, Keleti also competed at the World Championships and had a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal to her name.

Keleti’s career was briefly affected by geopolitical tensions and religious violence. Keleti’s training began shortly before World War II. However, Keleti and her family had to endure the torture in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where she lost her father to the Nazis. After the war, Keleti resumed her gymnastics training and won her first Hungarian championship in 1946. In 1947, she also competed at the Central European Gymnastics Championships. The Hungarian was also a musician, as she used to play cello professionally.

In 1957, Keleti emigrated to Israel, and after her retirement, she kept serving as a physical education instructor at different universities. Keleti also worked with Israel’s national gymnastics team in the 1990s. The 103-year-old now lives in Budapest.

Keleti was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2002. She also has an asteroid named 265594 Keletiágnes, discovered by Krisztian Sarneczky in 2005, named in her honour.

Polina Astakhova (Soviet Union)

Polina Astakhova represented the Soviet Union in the three Olympic editions between 1956 and 1964. Astakhova has 10 Olympic medals, including five gold, two silver, and three bronze medals in individual and team events.

Born in Ukraine, Astakhova won a gold and a silver medal, both in team events, at her maiden Olympic games in Melbourne in 1956. Astakhova’s individual success came four years later, at the 1960 Rome Games, where she won a gold in the uneven bars event and a silver in the floor exercise category, a bronze in the individual all-around event, and a gold in the team all-around event.

Furthermore, at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Astakhova defended her gold in the uneven bars event and her silver in the floor exercise category. She also won a bronze in the individual all-around event and helped her team clinch a gold in the team all-around event.

Apart from the Olympics, Astakhova also competed at the World Championships between 1958 and 1966, winning two golds, a silver, and a bronze medal. During her European Championships career, Astakhova won three gold and two silver medals.

After her retirement in 1972, Astakhova worked as a national coach in Ukraine. The Ukrainian was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2002.

Nadia Comaneci (Romania)

At the age of 14, Nadia Comaneci made her Olympic debut at the 1976 Montreal Games. It was a dream debut for the Roman, as she won three golds (individual all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam), a silver (team all-around), and a bronze (balance beam) at the games. In the same edition, Comăneci also became the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 at the Olympics. Further, Comăneci made history as she became the youngest-ever Olympic gymnastics all-around champion.

At the 1980 Moscow Games, Comăneci defended her balance beam gold and won another gold in the floor exercise event. She also won a couple of silver medals in individual and team all-round events that year. Overall, in her two appearances at the Olympics, Comăneci won nine medals (five gold, three silver, and a bronze).

Apart from the Olympics, Comăneci also competed at several editions of the World Championships, European Championships, World Cup Finals, and the FISU World University Games. During her World Championships career, Comăneci won two gold and two silver medals, while at the 1979 World Cup Final, she clinched a couple of gold and a silver medal.

Comăneci retired officially in 1984. In 1989, before the Romanian Revolution, Comăneci defected to the USA and came back only in 1996, after the fall of the communist regime in the country. Her comeback was well received by the government and the people of Romania.

In 1990, Comăneci was inducted into the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, while in 1993 she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.