Her name is synonymous with the best gymnastics, the most extraordinary attitude. Glamour and charisma were matched with an earthy ability to excel herself in the heat of competition. A fierce personal ambition was balanced by her loyal friendship and - occasionally ferocious - support of those closest to her. Svetlana Khorkina, the leading gymnast of her generation, turns 35 today (19 January).
Khorkina's formative years were spent working in the Soviet system of gymnastics with the only coach she ever had in her life, Boris Pilkin. They remained inseparable throughout her career. Pilkin's genius was in finding a completely original approach to gymnastics that suited Sveta's style, personality and physique perfectly. He took great care of her health and never forced her to progress too quickly. His gentle personality made him the ideal foil to Svetlana's sometimes hot-tempered reactions, and it could be intriguing to watch the interactions between this mild-faced man and his fiery, temperamental charge. Pilkin's philosophy was, 'gymnasts are the flowers, coaches are the roots'. He lived his principles and never strove to steal the limelight.
Later in life, the elderly Pilkin could not always be at his gymnast's side, as health concerns rendered it in advisable for him to travel to international competitions. But Svetlana always remembered him first in any thanks she made after her many victories. When Pilkin died in 2010, the day after the Russian women's team won its first team gold medal at the World Championships, Svetlana said, quite simply, 'I thank God that he gave me Pilkin'.
Her career spanned both the Gorbachov and Yeltsin eras, and she provided leadership and a role model for the sport at an uncertain time for both her home country and the international gymnastics community. Ironically, had the Soviet Union prevailed, the great Russian might not have had the chance to persist for so long in her career such were the competitive exigences of that mega state. The fragmentation of the Soviet team, however, meant that Russia had to develop its home talent and retain its champions. Khorkina became what was then a relatively unusual phenomenon, a woman gymnast competing well into her twenties.
When she retired in 2004 she left a gap that has still to be filled. There is no great performer in gymnastics any more. The technical and artistic flair of the best of Khorkina's work more than matched her charisma and made her unique. Once seen, never forgotten, Khorkina became familiar to more than just the gymnastics afficianado.
Khorkina competed at three Olympic Games - 1996, 2000 and 2004. She won medals in all three, including two golds - both on uneven bars - in 1996 and 2000. She won silver all around in 2004, and might have won gold in the fiercely contested, but ultimately fluffed, all around final of the 2000 Olympics. She won a total of nine World Championships gold medals, three of them in the all around and a remarkable five on uneven bars.
She rewrote the uneven bars book of style and skill, as the first gymnast truly to exploit the opportunities for intricate and daring flight from low to high, and high to low bar. Svetlana was an innovator on the vault, too, taking the gold medal on the apparatus in 2001, the year after an equipment fault on the apparatus had robbed her of her chances in the Olympic all around final. She ruled in Europe for ten years from 1994 to 2004, taking a total of thirteen gold medals, including three in the all around. At Olympic, World and European level she won an amazing 47 medals in all, winning awards on all four pieces of apparatus. Her name appears in the Code of Points as the innovator of new moves on every piece.
Khorkina could be unpredictable, occasionally inconsistent, certainly capricious, but was furthermore assiduous, determined and long-lived. She never let a defeat get her down for longer than a day and would always come back, shining new and ready to fight again. She and her close team mate, Elena Produnova, were simply thrilling on floor in the team final of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, as they attempted to wrestle back the lead from the Romanians. In the end, the judges left them .2 short of the lead, and silver was a bitter disappointment. But Sveta wept for joy when she won the gold in the uneven bars, just a few days later, theatrically kissing the apparatus that for so long had been her own private eyrie.
Today, Khorkina remains close to Russian gymnastics as Vice President of the RGF. She often appears at press and ceremonial events. But she says she doesn't like the sport as much any more, citing 'too many bent legs' and a lack of artistry. She has one son, Svyatoslav, born in July 2005, and lives in a Russia. In December 2007 she was elected to the State Duma as a member of the political party 'United Russia', and in 2010 she became a member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture (the Orthodox Church).
We all want to wish Svetlana a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Have a lovely day, Sveta.
See these videos
Svetlana on floor during the team final at the Sydney Olympics - http://youtu.be/w7GZP6G0p2o
2000 Europeans - beam - http://youtu.be/tOw3c4MY8I0
Vault at the 2001 World Championships - http://youtu.be/tucKIpFdWPA
Uneven bars - 1997 World Championships (Svetlana's first AA title) http://youtu.be/PeLNm3XBzqI
Beam - 1992 World Cup, Moscow http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa6o4Y8ESAU&feature=youtu.be&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXa6o4Y8ESAU%26feature%3Dyoutu.be
With thanks to the Russian Gymnastics Federation for information on Svetlana's career today.
Khorkina's statue at Belgorod State University - thanks to Niko
Niko tells me that there is an entire athletics complex named after her there, too.
