20+ Female Gymnasts and Their Technique Never thought you’d get a glimpse of what the most famous female gymnasts in the world look like today? Gymnastics is unquestionably one of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. Consider these “then and now” photographs of some of the most important female gymnasts in the history of the sport. They Appear Now
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton, representing the United States, became the first female gymnast from outside of Eastern Europe to win an Olympic gold medal in the all-around competition. This occurred in 1984, which also happened to be the most critical year of her whole professional life. Meanwhile, Retton won five gold and rose to prominence as a widely recognized sports figure during this time period. Retton was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in recognition of her outstanding achievements.
Mary Lou Retton
Alicia Sacramone
Alicia Sacramone is a gymnast from the United States who gained notoriety after competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Sacramone was considered one of the favorites heading into the competition, but things didn’t quite work out for her as she had hoped. Sacramone was eliminated from the team competition in 2008 after falling in two events, preventing the team from capturing the gold medal. She bore the brunt of the responsibility for these failures for a lengthy period of time. She is now married to Brady Quinn, a quarterback in the National Football League.
Alicia Sacramone
Lavinia Miloşovici
At the 1992 Olympic Games, Lavinia Milosovici had her five minutes of fame when she won the individual event finals with a perfect 10 score, which is something that doesn’t happen very often during the games. This Romanian gymnast won medals at every World Championship between 1991 and 1996, becoming only the third female gymnast in history to win a World Championship championship in each of the four competition events at the same time.
Lavinia Miloşovici
Shawn Johnson
Shawn Johnson, along with Nastia Liukin, was one of the top gymnasts in the United States and the face of Team USA in the 2008 Olympics. She was instrumental in the team earning a silver medal in both the all-around and the floor exercises. Not only was Johnson a vital member of the United States Olympic team, but she was also an inspiration to many young athletes and women throughout the United States and the rest of the world as a result of her achievements.
Shawn Johnson
Aliya Mustafina
Among the most well-known Russian gymnasts, Aliya Mustafina made a stunning comeback in the 2012 Olympics, winning the gold medal in the women’s all-around competition. She won a total of four medals in the Olympics this year, cementing her position as one of the top female gymnasts in the world. Aside from the silver medal she earned for the Russian team, Mustafina finished in a tie with Aly Raisman, who represented the United States. Because of a tie-breaking regulation, she was awarded the bronze medal in the end. She was also the champion of the 2010 World Championship, however she was forced to withdraw from the 2011 European Championship due to a serious injury she sustained.
Aliya Mustafina
Mo Huilan
During the 1990s, Mo Huilan was one of the most accomplished female gymnasts in the world. She competed for China at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where she ended in fifth position. Despite the fact that she did not receive a medal, her overall performance was pretty excellent. This Chinese gymnast was well-known for her difficult routines on the mat. She went out of her way to combine difficult maneuvers, and as a result, she frequently fell, preventing her from earning medals and championships.
Mo Huilan
Nastia Liukin
At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Nastia Liukin was a part of the United States gymnastics team, which brought home a total of five medals. All-around gold, three silvers, and a bronze medal for the floor were among the medals she earned at the competition. Nastia is still renowned for her distinctive balletic style as well as her incredible performances on the ballet barre. After a couple of terrible falls during the United States Olympic Trials, Nastia was forced to retire from gymnastics.
Nastia Liukin
Shannon Miller
After her early-’90s exploits, it’s reasonable to say that Shannon Miller established herself as one of the top gymnasts in United States history. For his efforts throughout this time period, Miller was awarded seven Olympic gold medals and nine World Championship medals. Her best accomplishments came during the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where she won the most medals of any American athlete at the time, including the gold medal. Unfortunately, she was beaten to the all-around gold medal by Tatiana Gutsu by 0.012 points, a result that has remained very contentious even to this day.
Shannon Miller
Lilia Podkopayeva
Lilia Podkopayeva is a Ukrainian gymnast who is well-known for being one of the few athletes who did not have any significant shortcomings in any event or category during her career. Throughout her career, her degree of skillfulness and readiness has earned her a number of all-around championship championships. Lilia became the first female gymnast to surpass Ludmila Tourischeva’s record by winning the European, World, and Olympic all-around titles at the same time, which was previously held by Tourischeva. Everything she accomplished in 1995 and 1996 placed her at the pinnacle of gymnastics’ history as one of the greatest athletes to ever compete on the sport’s stage.
Lilia Podkopayeva
Daniela Silivaş
Daniela Silivas, a Romanian gymnast, was one of the top athletes that competed at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Daniela astounded the world with her extraordinary performances, and she went on to win medals in every single event at which she competed. She took home a bronze medal in the vault and gold medals in the bars, beam, and floor competitions. However, she was only 0.025 points behind Yelena Shushunova for the gold medal in the all-around competition. Despite this, Silivas continues to be one of the most successful Romanian gymnasts in history!
Daniela Silivaş
Yelena Shushunova
Yelena Shushunova is a successful female gymnast from the Soviet Union who has competed in the Olympics. She has four Olympic medals to her credit, the most recent of which is the gold medal she earned in the all-around competition at the 1988 Olympics. Many people continue to admire Yelena Shushunova for her incredible skill and forceful vaulting, as well as for her perseverance in choosing extremely difficult and complex feats to do. After all, she has won medals in every category at major tournaments throughout her career.
Yelena Shushunova
Gabby Douglas
Gabby Douglas is yet another American gymnast who created history by becoming the first person to win both the individual and team all-around gold medals at the same competition in the same year. This occurred during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Meanwhile, she became the first African-American athlete to win the all-around category, making her the first of her kind. Despite the fact that Douglas’s professional athletic career came to an end relatively recently, it is always rewarding to reflect on the accomplishments of such accomplished American athletes. Aside from that, she rose to fame as the face of Kellogg’s cereal and served as an inspiration to millions of female athletes around the globe.
Gabby Douglas
Ludmilla Tourischeva
Ludmilla Tourischeva is a Soviet gymnast who won the gold medal in the all-around competition at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. One of the top female gymnasts from this region, she was also a true example of how to dress in a classy and elegant manner. Unfortunately, Tourischeva’s performance at the 1972 Olympics was eclipsed by Olga Korbut’s, but her accomplishments were nonetheless recognized. After demonstrating excellent style and technique, she was awarded the bronze medal in the all-around competition in 1976.
Ludmilla Tourischeva
Nellie Kim
Between the 1970s and the 1990s, Nellie Kim competed in a number of gymnastics competitions on behalf of the Soviet Union. Her most illustrious performances came at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, when she took home three gold medals and one silver in the process. She also won two gold medals in the following event at the 1980 Olympics. She stands out for the fact that she made history by becoming the first woman in Olympic history to get a perfect 10 on the vault!
Nellie Kim
Svetlana Boginskaya
It was during the late 1980s that Svetlana Boginskaya’s professional career reached its zenith. After earning four gold medals at the 1988 Olympics, she went on to win the world all-around title in 1989. Among these were an all-around bronze, a vault gold medal, as well as silver medals for the team and the floor routines Because of her spectacular accomplishments, Svetlana was dubbed “the Goddess of Gymnastics,” and her name quickly became well-known among athletes all over the world.
Svetlana Boginskaya
Svetlana Khorkina
Consider Svetlana Khorkina, one of the most well-known female gymnasts who has competed throughout history. She deserves to be at the absolute top of any list of famous female gymnasts. Svetlana remains one of the most accomplished gymnasts of all time, despite the fact that she never won an all-around gold medal in the Olympics. Six Olympic medals and an outstanding total of 20 medals at the World Championship level were earned by her! Their decision to designate her as the Queen of the Bars was based on sound reasoning. Svetlana was the only female gymnast to win consecutive gold medals in this category in five different years (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2001), making her the most decorated female gymnast in history.
Svetlana Khorkina
Larissa Latynina
She achieved Olympic success as a part of the Soviet gymnastics team, winning the all-around title twice at the 1956 and 1960 games, respectively. Latynina finished her career with a total of 18 medals, good for second place overall among Olympians across all sports. For her timeless aesthetic and the way she makes complex methods appear effortless, she is still remembered today. Her routines were dependable, but they were also extremely demanding at times. Taking everything into consideration, Latynina continues to be an important figure in the history of Russian gymnastics.
Larissa Latynina
Ecaterina Szabo
Ecaterina Szabo first came to public attention during the 1984 Olympics, when she was predicted to win the gold medal in the all-around competition. Although she was defeated by only.05 points in the finals, her loss against Mary Lou Retton rapidly became the most talked-about event of the tournament. She did, however, manage to capture gold medals in the individual event finals for not one, but three events – vault, beam, and floor – in addition to the team gold. Szabo was the most successful athlete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Ecaterina Szabo
Dominique Dawes
The 1996 Olympics provided Dominique Dawes with an opportunity of a lifetime when her colleague Kerri Strug was injured. She was representing the United States at the time. Following this setback, Dawes was given the opportunity to compete in the finals, where she was successful in bringing home a bronze medal for her team. A second milestone was achieved by Dominique Dawes, who became the first female African-American gymnast to win a medal in an individual competition. Aside from that, she was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics!
Dominique Dawes
McKayla Maroney
During her gymnastics career, McKayla Maroney was a part of the American women’s gymnastics team, known as the “Fierce Five,” which won the Olympic gold medal in 2008. Maroney won a gold medal with her colleagues in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as well as a silver medal in the individual vault competition in the same year. She had won a gold medal with the same team in the World Championships the year before, and she had taken first place on vault at the 2013 World Championships. It was her second World Championship title overall, and she became the first female gymnast from the United States to do so.
McKayla Maroney
Jamie Dantzscher
Following the United States Women’s Gymnastics team’s bronze medal performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Jamie Annette Dantzscher, a former artistic gymnast, helped the team reach new heights. At the time, her name could be found everywhere in the gymnastics community. Dantzscher was knocked out during the floor exercise during the team preliminary rounds in Sydney, but he recovered to compete effectively in the team finals the following day. While pursuing her degree at UCLA, Dantzscher continued to pursue her passion for gymnastics in her spare time. Today, she works as a professional sports coach in the sport.
Jamie Dantzscher
Simona Peycheva
Simona Peycheva is widely regarded as one of the most talented female gymnasts to have emerged from Bulgaria. She began her illustrious gymnastics career at the age of six, concentrating on rhythmic gymnastics. The ball, the hoop, and the club are some of her favorite tools to use. She is still actively involved in the sport today, serving as a well-known judge who scores contests all around the world. She is also married, and she and her husband have a kid named Aleksey.
Simona Peycheva
Aly Raisman
Aly Raisman began gymnastics when she was just two years old. She got so passionate to the sport that she dropped out of high school in order to achieve her dream of competing at the Olympic Games in Beijing. The gamble paid off, as she went on to win three gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze medal for the United States. Raisman has a significant side job as an ambassador for UNICEF Kid Power, which is an important cause. Aly’s name has also made headlines because of her courage in speaking out against the abuse she suffered at the hands of the gymnastics team’s medical staff.
Aly Raisman
Almudena Cid Tostado
Almudena Cid Tostado is a Spanish-born gymnast who began competing at the age of seven. She was born in Madrid, Spain. Her primary routine consisted of rhythmic gymnastics, with a particular emphasis on the ball. She went on to compete in four separate Olympic Games, including the Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, and Beijing games, representing Spain. She quit the sport in 2008, following 21 years of unwavering dedication to it. She is now a Nike model, and she and her husband, Christian Galvez, recently tied the knot.
Almudena Cid Tostado
Giulia Steingruber
Giulia Steingruber is a Swiss-born artistic gymnast who began competing at a young age. She is now ranked third in the world. As the sole gymnast representing Switzerland at the London Olympics that year, she went on to compete in the Games in London. Four medals were awarded to her at the European Games, which were held in Azerbaijan in 2015. It is stated that her achievement in Baku aided in the advancement of her professional life. Recently, she competed in the World Gymnastics Championships in Montreal, where she placed third on the vault.
Giulia Steingruber
Vasiliki Millousi
Vasiliki Millousi is a Greek athlete who specializes in the balance beam, which is her major apparatus. She competed for Greece at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics, and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she won a bronze medal. She has, however, yet to bring home an Olympic medal from the Games. Having said that, she has four medals from the European Games and ten medals from the world cup series to her credit. Despite the fact that she is in her mid-30s, Millousi continues to compete in international competitions.
Vasiliki Millousi
Laurie Hernandez
Laurie Hernandez is an American gymnast who competed in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, where she was a member of the Final Five, a squad that was dubbed “the Final Five.” Her gymnastics career has resulted in a total of 11 medals, including four gold medals, which she has collected. The next year, Hernandez competed in and won season 23 of Dancing with the Stars. She also penned an autobiography that became a New York Times bestseller book after her Olympic success.
Laurie Hernandez
Madison Kocian
Madison Kocian is an American gymnast who has won a total of ten medals for the uneven bars at the Olympics. She is a member of the Final Five Olympic teams. She returned home with a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She began studying at the University of California in 2016 and immediately became a member of the NCAA gymnastics team. Madison’s participation in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo is currently in question.
Madison Kocian
Carly Patterson
Carly Patterson is regarded as a legend in the gymnastics community, having been inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. When she competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, she made history by becoming the first American to ever win an Olympic gold medal in the all-around event. After a long and illustrious gymnastics career, she was forced to quit in 2006 due to severe back problems. After signing a contract with MusicMind Reports in 2008, her singing career took off like a rocket. She even competed on the reality television show Celebrity Duets, where she was paired with Jesse McCartney.
Carly Patterson
Kristina Baskett
Kristina Baskett was a latecomer to the world of gymnastics, and it wasn’t until she was studying at the University of Utah that she truly realized her potential. Baskett was a member of the Utah Red Rocks gymnastics team when she won the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American title as well as the Dahl Award while there. Currently, her professional career is fascinating, since she is primarily known for her job as a stunt double for actress Megan Fox. Aside from that, she has performed stunts in episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles, Agents of SHIELD, and Game of Thrones, among other shows.
Kristina Baskett
Agnes Keleti
Agnes Keleti is widely regarded as the finest Hungarian gymnast in history. Unfortunately, she had a difficult time during the Second World War, when her family was forced to take refuge in a “Swedish House.” Following these tragic occurrences, Keleti made a remarkable comeback to her profession in 1948, which garnered widespread attention. At the 1952 and 1956 Olympics, she took home a total of ten medals, including five golds. The latter was, without a doubt, her most successful competition throughout her whole professional career.
Agnes Keleti
Tatiana Gutsu
Tatiana Gutsu is one of the most well-known gold-medal gymnasts to come out of the Soviet Union. She competed for the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s. She represented the Soviet Union when she won an all-around gold medal for the team after beating Shannon Miller by a mere.012 of a second. Gutsu has amassed an impressive collection of medals throughout her career, including gold and silver medals on uneven bars in Barcelona. It’s possible that you’ll want to seek up some of her performances to see how talented she is because they were so different and interesting to watch.
Tatiana Gutsu
Simona Amanar
Simona Amanar, a Romanian gymnast who is considered to be one of the country’s most successful athletes, has won seven Olympic medals throughout her career. Simona has cemented her position in Romanian sporting history with three gold medals at the Olympics, one silver medal, and three bronze medals. In addition to her individual accomplishments, Simona was a member of the Romanian gymnastics team that won four gold medals. In fact, she has a vault named after her – the Amanar vault – in honor of the move that earned her a gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Simona Amanar
Polina Astakhova
Polina Astakhova was a member of the Soviet Union gymnastics team who represented the Soviet Union at international competitions between 1956 and 1964. During this time, she competed in three Olympic events, winning a total of ten medals, which is a remarkable achievement. In the Olympics, she was awarded five gold medals, two silver medals, and three bronze medals. Uneven bars were the setting for some of Polina’s best performances, despite the fact that she excelled in every category.
Polina Astakhova
Nadia Comaneci
Because of her great performances, Nadia Comaneci has made a significant contribution to the history of this sport. She was only 17 years old when she became the first person in history to get a perfect ten in Olympic competition. Her first gold medal was earned at this age in 1976, when she won the all-around competition as well as gold medals on the uneven bars and balancing beam. She also took home silver in the team competition and a bronze in the floor exercise. This was merely the beginning of her illustrious career, which culminated in her induction into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in perpetuity. The International Olympic Committee also presented her with the Olympic Order, which is the greatest honor bestowed upon a person by the organization.
Nadia Comaneci