Three consecutive World all-around titles — the most elegant uneven bars specialist in history.
Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina was born in Belgorod, Russia in 1979. She won 20 World Championship medals — the most by any female gymnast in history. She won three consecutive World all-around titles (1997, 2001, 2003). Her uneven bars work — incorporating elements of her extraordinary height for a gymnast (she was 5ft 5in, very tall for elite gymnastics) — produced routines of exceptional elegance and difficulty. Her infamous performance at Sydney 2000 — where the vault was set to the wrong height causing multiple gymnasts to fall — added a controversial element to her Olympic career. She was one of the most charismatic gymnasts of her era.
Olympic Gold 2x (uneven bars 1996,2000)
Career Honours
- Olympic Gold 2x (uneven bars 1996,2000)
- World Champion 3x (all-around)
- World medals 20