Svetlana Khorkina

Awards & Achievements

• Two gold, four silver, and one bronze medal at the Olympics Games, held in between 1996-2004
• 9 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 3 bronze medals at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, conducted in between 1995-2001 (the first gymnast to win three All-Around titles at the competition)
• Earned a silver medal in Uneven Bars event at the FIG World Cup Final in 1998
• 13 gold medals, 5 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships, held in between 1994-2004
• 2 gold medals in Uneven Bars and team event at the Goodwill Games in 1994
• 2 gold medals in team events at the European Team Gymnastics Championship in 1999 and 2003
• The Russian Federation bestowed her with the "Order of Honour" in 2001
• Appointed as the Vice-President of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation in 2005
• Appointed as an ambassador of the Winter Olympics in 2014

Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina, an artistic gymnast from Russia is well known for her technical and artistic flair, which led her to win twenty World Championships and seven Olympic gold medals. She was born on 19th January 1979 in Belgorod, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The lady is regarded as one of the most successful gymnasts of all times. She is the first gymnast to earn three all-around titles at the World Championships of 1997, 2001 and 2003, respectively. Ambitious and Loyal; these are the two prime qualities that have made an ordinary girl a world-class gymnast, decorated with prestigious medals.

At the World Championship of 2001 that took place in Ghent, Svetlana emerged out as the most successful competitor amongst 440 participants and won a total of 5 medals (three golds, one silver and one bronze). She has achieved numerous accolades through her perseverance and sincere guidance by her only coach Boris Pilkin who helped her in grooming in the art. Svetlana faced numerous difficulties while practice and performance due to her height but her coach guided her well and Svetlana never forgets to mention his name for each of her success. Svetlana strongly believes that a person can achieve anything through firm determination and constant tribulations as she did.

All through her prolific gymnastics career, she has been considered as a temperamental and bold performer, but Svetlana favoured what she truly believed to make the performance idealistic. She has remained fair with her job, performing well in front of spectators and has never competed or compared herself to any of her competitors, dwelling into fruitless conspiracies or backstage politics. Instead, she believes in working on flaws and improving herself. Even after retirement, she is still contributing her best to the sport. She is also active in Russian politics as a member of a political party of United Russia. In 2005, Svetlana was appointed the Vice-President of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation.

She is a proud mother of a boy who was born in 2005. She got married to Oleg Kochnev, a former general of Federal Security Service of Russia in 2011. She has contributed her best to artistic gymnastics. Eight of her best moves on the floor have been marked with her name in International gymnastics such as "Khorkina Vaults", and "Khorkina Bar releases" in her honour. Svetlana has earned a unique place in the history of gymnastics, leaving numerous exemplary performances to follow.

Credits: YouTube