Rhythmic Gymnastics Veterans. First world champion Lyudmila Savinkova

Lyudmila Savinkova is a Soviet gymnast, USSR Honored Master of Sports and the first ever world champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

Savinkova was born on January 1, 1936. She came to rhythmic gymnastics rather late by modern standards - at the 10. During a physical education lesson at school, her teacher noticed her incredible flexibility and advised her to enroll in classes.

Tamara Lisitsian became Lyudmila's first coach. She was the one who instilled in the young athlete a love of gymnastics and an artistic taste.

Three years later, Savinkova began to train with the sister of her first mentor, Maria Lisitsian. At that time, Maria trained Soviet Union’s best athletes.

 In gymnastics, Savinkova was noted for her ease and movement precision. In early childhood, Lyudmila wanted to become a ballerina, and this was reflected in her athletic programs . Perhaps her most striking exercises are the hoop to Robert Schumann's Scherzo and  performance without an object to Sergei Rachmaninov's Polichinelle.

Lyudmila Savinkova’s first serious training result was the victory at the USSR championship in 1949. Her international success took place in 1963. In Budapest, at the European Cup, the athlete stood at the top of the podium for the all-around, exercises with a hoop and without an object. At that time Lyudmila didn’t know yet know that she had become the world champion, because the status of the world championship was assigned to the tournament only a year later. 

At the same time, Savinkova performed not only in the individual competition, but also in the group competition. As part of the group, she won the World Championships in 1967 in Copenhagen, this type of program was included in the competition for the first time. In addition to Savinkova, the group consisted of Tatyana Kravchenko, Elvira Averkovich, Lyudmila Kachkalda, Tatyana Mashkova, Maria Kuchinskaya.

 After completing her athletic career, Savinkova published the book "The Age of Beauty" about spiritual beauty, which she views through the prism of sports.

 Lyudmila is a real rolemodel for the younger generation of gymnasts. Her perseverance, hard work and artistic view of the world helped her reach heights and put her name in the history of this wonderful sport.