Svetlana Khristoforovna Grozdova (Russian: Светлана Христофоровна Гроздова, born 29 January 1959 in Rostov on Don[1]) is a retired Soviet Russian gymnast.

Svetlana Grozdova
Country represented Soviet Union
Born (1959-01-29) 29 January 1959 (age 65)
Rostov on Don, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal Team competition

She started training in gymnastics at age 8 and was coached by Russian gymnastics coach Ruslan Lavrov in a gym in Rostov-on-Don. She was a member of the Soviet Union's 1976 Olympics Gold medal-winning gymnastics team alongside Maria Filatova, Nellie Kim, Elvira Saadi, Ludmilla Tourischeva and Olga Korbut.

In 1974 and 1976, she was the Moscow News All Around champion. She was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor in 1976.[2] In 1980 she left the world of competitive gymnastics and took up sports acrobatics and was competing in it by the mid-1980s.

Her best event was the balance beam. Despite not winning any Olympic medals in this event, she was a pro at wowing the crowds at USSR gymnastics exhibitions around the world with her tremendous flexibility and mesmerising balance on her hands. She had an unusually flexible, rubber-like spine which allowed her to perform walkovers along the 4" (10 cm) width of the balance beam, and to do a split handstand at the very end of the beam and touching the beam with her foot behind her head.

Competition History

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Year Event AA Team VT UB BB FX
1973 GDR-USSR Dual Meet      
Druzhba   4 7    
Riga International     6  
USSR-GDR-CSSR-HUN Meet    
1974 Moscow News        
Antibes International  
Golden Sands International  
USSR Championships 4 4
USSR Cup 5    
1976 Moscow News      
Chunichi Cup 5
Tokyo Cup    
USSR Championships 4    
USSR Cup 9    
USSR-CSSR Dual Meet      
Olympic Games  
1977 Army Club Championships  
1978 FRA-USSR-BUL Meet    
USSR Championships   18 7 7
USSR Cup 12
1979 Istanbul International  
University Games   4  

[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ (in Russian) Profile at Gymnast.ru Archived November 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Boris Khavin (1979). All about Olympic Games (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 542.
  3. ^ https://themedalcount.com/svetlana-grozdova/
  4. ^ https://www.gymn-forum.net/bios/women/grozdova.html