Olga Korbut, the Soviet gymnast who charmed the world at the 1972 Munich
Olympics, has sold her medal haul and other trophies in a US auction. The
sale of seven lots - including two golds and a silver from the Munich Games -
fetched $183,300 (£147,000) for Korbut. The most expensive item was her team
gold ($66,000).
Born in Belarus , she
moved to the US
in 1991. Now 61, she lives in Arizona .
In 1972, at the height of the Cold War, Korbut's breathtaking gymnastics won
millions of admirers in the West when she was just 17. Just 1.5m tall (4ft 11),
she was nicknamed "the Sparrow from Minsk ".
Her captivating smile and quirky charm helped to turn her into an Olympic
legend.
She won three golds (team, balance beam and floor exercise) and a silver at
the 1972 Munich Olympics. In 1976 she won another gold and a silver at the
Montreal Games. Heritage Auctions, organizer of the sale, says "there is
hardly a gymnast alive who doesn't credit this tiny force of nature for the
explosion of the sport's popularity on a global level".
The sale items included one of her performance leotards, her 1972 BBC Sports
Personality of the Year Award, various Soviet medals and a sports magazine
cover signed by her. The Korbut Flip was a spectacular trick that she performed
on the asymmetric bars - a trick now banned from the Olympics as it is
considered too dangerous. The flip can be seen on YouTube - it begins with a
somersault on the top bar.
From 1978 to 2000 Korbut was married to Leonid Bortkevich, a famous
Soviet-era folk singer, with whom she moved to the US
after the USSR
Post a Comment