One of the famous Soviet gymnasts is Nelly Kim. Her biography is filled with sports victories and awards. The name of the athlete was known far beyond the borders of the Soviet Union.
Biography
Olympic champion, multiple world, European and USSR champion Nelly Kim was born on July 29, 1957 in the Tajik village of Shurab. Her father, Kim Vladimir, was a Sakhalin Korean, and her mother, Safina Alfiya, was a Tatar.
After the appearance of the daughter, the family moved to Kazakhstan, where Nelli's parents live now. There, at the age of ten, the girl began to actively engage in gymnastics in a children's sports school. Her trainer was Vladimir Baidin. After a while, Kim is the best gymnast in the country. Without stopping at what has been achieved, Nelly participates in all-Union and world competitions.
In the seventies, the athlete was considered one of the best gymnasts in the world. Next to the names of Nadi Comanechi, Olga Korbut and Lyudimila Turishcheva, there was also the name Nelly Kim. The gymnast became the champion of Europe, and then together with Olya and the champion of the Games of the Soviet Union. She continued to rise, gaining more and more heights. A year later, in 1976, Nelly Kim (photo in the article) was an Olympic champion.
In the late 70s, Kim moved to Minsk and advocated for Belarus. Two years later, Nelly became the absolute world champion.
In 1980, the girl ended her career as a gymnast and became a coach of various national teams (Italy, Belarus, Korea) in gymnastics. She acted as a judge at the Olympic Games, world championships and Europe.
In 1978, in Almaty, she graduated from the Kazakh Institute of Physical Culture. And not so long ago, in 2010, she enrolled in absentia at the graduate school of the National University of Physical Education and writes a Ph.D.
He is a Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.
Athlete Awards
The gymnast has many awards. At the Olympic Games in 1976, which took place in Montreal, she won four medals. Among them are three gold (vault, team performance, floor exercises) and one silver all-around.
At the following games in Moscow in 1980 (they became the end of Kim’s career), the gymnast managed to take two gold medals in the same forms of performance.
At the World Championships, Nelly Kim has collected more than ten awards, including five gold and four silver medals.
The athlete also received two orders of the Red Banner of Labor as an award. And already in Russia, for her merits in sports, she received the Star of the Hero.
Personal life
In 1977, Nelly Kim and Belarusian gymnast Achasov Vladimir got married in the girl’s homeland, and then left for Minsk. The couple lived for several years and divorced. The reason for the divorce was alcohol abuse and another woman of Vladimir.
At the Olympic Games in Moscow, Nelly met and married a Belarusian cyclist, Olympic champion Valery Movchanov. They had a daughter, who was also called Nelly. The second time, married life also did not work out.
Now the gymnast lives in the United States in the city of Minneapolis. Often comes to parents in Kazakhstan. Her daughter studied at the University of Chicago.
Interesting Facts
Nelly Kim is the first gymnast to perform at the Olympics who received a "ten" mark for jumping and exercising.
The team called Kim Kimonelli. According to the athlete herself, the coach Turishcheva accidentally mixed up her name and surname. After that, everyone began to call her that nickname.
Initially, Nellie did not think about a gymnast career. Sport was just entertainment for the girl.
In the International gymnastics hall of fame, located in the United States, is the name of Nelly.
The athlete had to quit her career because of health problems. She had an ulcer.
Journalists from America predicted Kim’s brilliant victory at the Montreal Games. Even before they started, they came to Kazakhstan and shot a film about the future gymnastics star.
After the wedding with Vladimir Achasov, Nelly wanted to leave the sport, but suddenly changed her mind and decided to speak at the Moscow Olympics.
After some time, Svetlana Boginskaya repeated Kim's triumphant double somersault , for which Nelli Vladimirovna (she was one of the competition judges) also put “ten” to her.
The famous Portuguese and Canadian singer Nelly Furtado, parents named in honor of the athlete. They were delighted with Kim's performance at the Montreal Olympics.
The name Nelly was known far beyond the borders of the Soviet Union. No one could compare with the champion.