Maria Gorokhovskaya

Maria Gorokhovskaya
Gorokhovskaya on a Soviet stamp of 1957
Personal information
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	October 17, 1921(1921-10-17) Yevpatoria
Died	July 22, 2001(2001-07-22) (aged 79) Tel Aviv
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 1952 Helsinki Team competition Gold 1952 Helsinki All-around Silver 1952 Helsinki Team, portable apparatus Silver 1952 Helsinki Vault Silver 1952 Helsinki Uneven bars Silver 1952 Helsinki Balance beam Silver 1952 Helsinki Floor exercise World Championships Gold 1954 Rome Team Bronze 1954 Rome Floor exercise

Maria Kondratyevna Gorokhovskaya (Russian: Мария Кондратьевна Гороховская, Ukrainian: Марія Кіндратівна Гороховська; October 17, 1921 in Yevpatoria – July 22, 2001 in Tel Aviv) was a Ukrainian (formerly Soviet) gymnast. At the 1952 Summer Olympics, she won seven medals, the most medals won by any woman in a single Olympics.[1]

Competing for Stroityel Kharkov, Gorokhovskaya won her first USSR title on the balance beam in 1948. She came to the Helsinki Olympics as the twofold national champion. Soviet gymnastics had never competed at major international tournaments before, and it was the first Olympics in which the country participated.

The Soviet gymnasts dominated the competition, with Gorokhovskaya leading them. In all four individual apparatus events – the balance beam, floor exercise, the vault and the uneven bars – Gorokhovskaya finished second. This performance earned her the gold medal in the all-around competition, finishing ahead of team-mate Nina Bocharova by eight tenths of a point.

With seven of the eight Soviet gymnasts finishing in the top ten, it was clear that the team gold medal would go to them. Gorokhovskaya won her seventh medal in the now discontinued team exercise with portable apparatus, where the Soviet team finished second behind Sweden.

Gorokhovskaya made one more international appearance as a part of the winning Soviet team at the 1954 World Championships, and retired afterwards. She then worked as a judge (international since 1964) and a lecturer.

In 1990, she emigrated to Israel.In 1991 Maria was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

Year	Event	AA	Team	VT	UB	BB	FX	RG	HB
1947	USSR Championships	2nd
1948	USSR Championships				2nd	1st
1949	USSR Championships	3rd				3rd		2nd	1st
1950	USSR Championships	2nd		3rd		3rd		3rd	1st
1951	USSR Championships	1st		3rd		2nd	1st
1952	USSR Championships	1st		3rd	1st	2nd	1st
1953	USSR Championships				1st
1954	World Championships		1st				3rd
	USSR Championships	2nd						1st

See also

Gymnastics portal

• List of select Jewish gymnasts
• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games

External links

• Complete List of Competition Results at Gymn Forum
• Maria Gorokhovskaya at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique

Persondata
Name	Gorokhovskaya, Maria
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 17, 1921
Place of birth	Yevpatoria
Date of death	July 22, 2001
Place of death	Tel Aviv