Larisa Semyonovna Latynina is a former Soviet gymnast who won a record 18 Olympic medals between 1956 and 1964, including 14 individual medals. She held the record for most Olympic medals won by any athlete, male or female, for 48 years until American swimmer Michael Phelps surpassed her total medal count in 2012, though Latynina's record of 14 individual medals still stands. Latynina trained in Kiev and made her international debut in 1954, going on to become one of the most decorated Olympic athletes of all time.

1. МОУ «ТВЕРСКАЯ СОШ»
КАЛИНИНСКИЙ РАЙОН ТВЕРСКАЯ ОБЛАСТЬ
Цветкова Елена Александровна
учитель физики
МОУ «Тверская СОШ»
МЕРМЕРИНЫ 2013

2. Larisa Semyonovna Latynina is
a former Soviet gymnast.
Between 1956 and 1964 she
won 14 individual Olympic
medals and four team medals.
Her total of 18 Olympic medals
was a record for 48 years until
surpassed by American
swimmer Michael Phelps on
July 31, 2012. Although Phelps
broke her total medal count
record, her record for
individual event medals (14)
still stands.

3. Born as Larisa Semyonovna Diriy
in Ukraine, she first practiced
ballet, but turned to gymnastics
after her choreographer moved
out of Kherson. She graduated
from high school in 1953 and
moved to Kiev to attend the
Lenin Polytechnic Institute and
continue training, where she
trained at the Burevestnik
Voluntary Sports Society. At the
age of 19, she debuted
internationally at the 1954 Rome
World Championships, winning
the gold medal in the team
competition.

4. Latynina's nine gold medals makes her second on the list of most Olympic gold
medalists together with Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi, only behind Michael
Phelps, who has 18. She held the distinction of having more Olympic medals (either
individually or with a team) than anybody ever, from 1964 until 2012.

5. She is the only woman to have won nine
gold medals. She is also the only female
athlete who at some point has held the
record for most Olympic gold medals.
Additionally, within the sport of
gymnastics, she is the only woman who
has won an all-around medal in more
than two Olympiads, the only woman
who has won an individual event (floor
exercise) in more than two Olympiads,
and one of only three women who have
won every individual event at either the
World Championship or Olympic level.
She is the only female gymnast to have
won team gold, All-Around gold and an
event final gold at the same Olympics.

6. Latynina retired after the 1966 World Championships and became a coach for the Soviet national
gymnastics team, a position she held until 1977. Under her coaching the Soviet women won team
gold in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. She organized the gymnastics competition at the 1980
Olympic Games in Moscow.
She is a citizen of Russia, and lives in an estate near the town of Semenovskoye.