Total Medals:

Olympics:

Worlds:

Euros:

Appearances:
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Larissa Latynina is best known for being the all-time Olympic medal leader across all Olympic sports for roughly half a century. It wasn’t until Michael Phelps came along that her record was finally broken. In her career Latynina medaled 18 times at the Olympics despite participating in only 19 events. The one time she failed to medal in an Olympic Games was a fourth place finish at her very first Olympics.

Latynina was particularly dominant from 1956-1965. She didn’t compete in 1959 due to maternity leave, but in all other years she won 43 medals in the 45 events she participated in at the Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships. The two times she failed to medal were again, 4th place finishes. Latynina’s most impressive performance in a single competition occurred at the 1958 World Championships. Statistically it was the most dominant win at the World Championships in the pre-Simone era. Even more amazingly, Latynina was 4-months pregnant at this competition. Latynina also swept the 1957 European Championships by winning a gold medal on every event.

After finishing her athletic career Latynina served as a coach of the Soviet women’s gymnastics team. Latynina was equally as successful as a coach as she had been as an athlete. Under Latynina’s coaching tenure the USSR never lost a team title at the Olympics and World Championships. The final team she coached was the 1976 Montreal Olympic team. Statistically, it remains one of the strongest performing teams in Olympic history.

In 2022 historical research confirmed that Latynina had a previously uncounted medal at the 1954 World Championships in the discontinued event of Team Portable Apparatus or “TPA.”

World Championships & Olympic Competition:

Results:

1952
USSR Championships: 2nd-Team, 9th-AA

1953
USSR Championships: 1st-Team, 2nd-AA

1954
World Championships: 1st-Team, 2nd-Team PA

1955
USSR Championships: 1st-Team, 2nd-AA

1956
Olympic Games: 1st-Team, 3rd-TPA, 1st-AA, 1st-VT, 2nd-UB, 1st-FX
USSR Cup: 1st-AA, 3rd-VT, 1st-UB, 2nd-BB, 2nd-FX
USSR Championships: 2nd-Team, 4th-AA, 1st-VT, 2nd-UB, 1st-FX

1957
European Championships: 1st-AA, 1st-VT, 1st-UB, 1st-BB, 1st-FX
USSR Cup: 5th-AA, 1st-VT, 1st-FX
USSR Championships: 2nd-Team, 2nd-AA

1958
World Championships: 1st-Team, 1st-AA, 1st-VT, 1st-UB, 1st-BB, 2nd-FX

1959
Maternity Leave.

1960
Olympic Games: 1st-Team, 1st-AA, 3rd-VT, 2nd-UB, 2nd-BB, 1st-FX
USSR Cup: 2nd-AA
USSR Championships: 3rd-Team, 2nd-AA

1961
European Championships: 1st-AA, 2nd-UB, 2nd-BB, 1st-FX
USSR Cup: 1st-AA, 2nd-VT, 1st-UB, 3rd-BB, 1st-FX
USSR Championships: 3rd-Team, 1st-AA, 1st-VT, 1st-UB, 3rd-BB, 3rd-FX

1962
World Championships 1st-Team, 1st-AA, 2nd-VT, 3rd-UB, 2nd-BB, 1st-FX
USSR Cup: 2nd-AA
USSR Championships (May): 2nd-Team, 2nd-AA
USSR Championships (November): 5th-Team, 1st-AA

1963
University Games: 2nd-Team, 1st-AA
USSR Championships: 2nd-Team, 2nd-AA, 2nd-UB, 3rd-FX

1964
Olympic Games: 1st-Team, 2nd-AA, 2nd-VT, 3rd-UB, 3rd-BB, 1st-FX
USSR Cup: 3rd-AA, 2nd-VT, 1st-UB, 4th-BB
USSR Championships: 2nd-AA

1965
European Championships: 2nd-AA, 3rd-VT, 2nd-UB, 2nd-BB, 2nd-FX

1966
World Championships: 2nd-Team
USSR Cup: 5th-AA, 3rd-UB

Articles Featuring Larissa Latynina:

The Time Larissa Latynina Won Five Gold Medals While Four-Months Pregnant
How Many Medals Would Larissa Latynina Have Won Under Modern Scheduling?
Petrik Defeats Latynina: The Upset That Changed Gymnastics Forever
Research Reveals Larissa Latynina Has a Previously Unknown Medal Which Puts Her Ahead of Simone Biles in the All-Time Medal Rankings

Gallery:

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Results are taken from Score for Score, The Gymternet, GymnasticGreats, My Meet Scores, Gymn-Forum, the official websites of various national gymnastics federations, newspaper clippings, classic gymnastics magazines, and in some cases, were provided by the gymnasts themselves. An explanation for the meaning of these symbols can be found here.