Sofia Ivanovna Muratova (, 13 July 1929 – 27 September 2006) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

gymnast. She competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won eight medals.

Early life

Muratova grew up in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and lost her mother during its

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

. Muratova herself was evacuated from the city in 1941. During the war she could not regularly attend school, but tried to train every day. She took up

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

in 1943, entering a children's sports school, and just three months later competed in the Russian Championships for girls. In 1944 she moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where she trained under Ivan Zhuravlyov.

First successes

In 1945 Muratova won her first major competition, the USSR Junior Championships. She soon became one of the strongest Soviet gymnasts, the only one to win five Soviet all-around titles, yet she was often unlucky at major international events.

World championships and Olympics

Muratova missed the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

due to injury. Two years later, at the

1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 13th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Rome, the capital of Italy, on June 28 - July 1, 1954. It was the first World Championships at which the Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly k ...

, she won a gold medal in the team competition and led the all-around contest, but broke her arm during a warm-up and had to withdraw from the championship. Her husband Valentin Muratov swore to win a gold medal for her and became the all-around champion. She debuted at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

, winning the team gold and two bronze medals, all-around and on the

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

. At the rather unsuccessful

1958 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 14th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held on July 6–10, 1958 in Moscow, the capital of the USSR. Medallists Men's results All-around Floor exercise Pommel horse Rings Vault Parallel bars Horizontal bar Tea ...

Muratova won the team gold and two bronzes on

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosur ...

and

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. The apparatus and the event are sometimes simply called "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is BB. The bal ...

. Injuries haunted her on the way to the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

, but with the help from

Zoya Mironova Zoya Sergeyevna Mironova (née ''Noskova'', , 10 May 1913 – 4 May 2008) was a Russian speed skater and sports surgeon, one of the founders of the sports traumatology in the Soviet Union. She was the head surgeon of the Soviet Olympic team betwe ...

, who operated Muratova just three months before the Olympics, she managed to recover and even win three medals — the team gold, all-around silver and bronze on the

. She presented her gold medal to Mironova as a token of gratitude. Her two Olympic all-around medals (1956, 1960) were a rare feat accomplished by only eight other women gymnasts. Muratova won seven all-around national titles, including the inaugural 1955 USSR Cup. She retired in 1965 and worked as a coach for 34 years. She was the head coach of the Soviet women's gymnastics team at the 1968 Olympics. Earlier in 1957 she was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

. Muratova died on 27 September 2006. Her husband Valentin Muratov died on 6 October of the same year.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muratova, Sofia 1929 births 2006 deaths Gymnasts from Saint Petersburg Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Gymnasts at the 1956 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gymnasts for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in gymnastics Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Russian female artistic gymnasts Soviet female artistic gymnasts 20th-century Russian sportswomen

Early life

First successes

World championships and Olympics

Achievements (non-Olympic)

See also

References