I came to the Olympic Games completely unknown. Nobody knew who Olga Korbut was, and overnight I became a big star.

Olga Korbut

Olga Valentinovna Korbut (born 16 May 1955) is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the Soviet team, and was the inaugural inductee to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1988. While Korbut retired from gymnastics in 1977 at the age of 22, which was considered young for gymnasts of the period, Korbut's influence and legacy in gymnastics was far reaching. Korbut's 1972 Olympic performances are widely credited as redefining gymnastics, changing the sport from emphasising ballet and elegance to acrobatics as well as changing popular opinion of gymnastics from a niche sport to one of the most popular sports in the world.

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