Maria Gorokhovskaya

Maria Gorokhovskaya
— Gymnast —
Personal information
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1921-10-17)17 October 1921 Yevpatoria, Russia
Died	22 July 2001(2001-07-22) (aged 79) Tel Aviv, Israel
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Club	Stroityel Kharkov[1]
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki Team 1952 Helsinki All-Around 1952 Helsinki Team PA 1952 Helsinki Vault 1952 Helsinki Uneven Bars 1952 Helsinki Balance Beam 1952 Helsinki Floor Exercise World Championships 1954 Rome Team 1954 Rome Floor Exercise

Maria Kondratyevna Gorokhovskaya (Russian: Мария Кондратьевна Гороховская, Ukrainian: Марія Кіндратівна Гороховська; 17 October 1921 – 22 July 2001) was a Russian-born Soviet gymnast of Jewish descent. At the 1952 Summer Olympics, she won seven medals, the most medals won by any woman in a single Olympics.^[2]

Competing for Budivelnyk Kharkiv, 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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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, Gorokhovskaya, who was Jewish,^[3] emigrated to Israel, where she worked as a gymnastics coach until her death.^[1] In 1991 she was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

Gorokhovskaya on a Soviet stamp of 1957

See also

• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic female gymnasts for the Soviet Union
• List of select Jewish gymnasts
• List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists

References

External links

• Complete list of competition results at Gymn Forum
• Maria Gorokhovskaya at the International Federation of Gymnastics

Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics - Women's Team All-Around
1928 Netherlands 1936 Germany 1948 Czechoslovakia 1952 Soviet Union 1956 Soviet Union 1960 Soviet Union 1964 Soviet Union 1968 Soviet Union 1972 Soviet Union 1976 Soviet Union 1980 Soviet Union 1984 Romania 1988 Soviet Union 1992 Unified Team 1996 United States 2000 Romania 2004 Romania 2008 China 2012 United States 2016 United States
1952:  Soviet Union (URS), Nina Bocharova, Pelageya Danilova, Maria Gorokhovskaya, Ekaterina Kalinchuk, Galina Minaicheva, Galina Shamrai, Galina Urbanovich, Medea Jugeli

World Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Team Competition
1934:  Czechoslovakia 1938:  Czechoslovakia 1950:  Sweden 1954:  Soviet Union 1958:  Soviet Union 1962:  Soviet Union 1966:  Czechoslovakia 1970:  Soviet Union 1974:  Soviet Union 1978:  Soviet Union 1979:  Romania 1981:  Soviet Union 1983:  Soviet Union 1985:  Soviet Union 1987:  Romania 1989:  Soviet Union 1991:  Soviet Union 1994:  Romania 1995:  Romania 1997:  Romania 1999:  Romania 2001:  Romania 2003:  United States 2006:  China 2007:  United States 2010:  Russia 2011:  United States 2014:  United States 2015:  United States
1954:  Soviet Union (URS), Nina Bocharova, Pelageya Danilova, Maria Gorokhovskaya, Larisa Latynina, Tamara Manina, Sofia Muratova, Galina Rudko, Galina Sharabidze