Olga Korbut: The Belarusian gymnast who retired at 22 with 4 Olympic gold medals

Many regard the 27-year-old American as the greatest gymnast that ever lived and if there ever were any doubts after she failed to win gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles’ performance at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics where she has already clinched 3 gold medals and a silver medal has silenced her critics, who raised eyebrows over her display in 2021.

However, before the historic American was scintillating the world with her acrobatics, a certain “Sparrow from Minsk” captured attention by winning 3 gold medals and a silver medal at the 1972 Munich Games competing for the Soviet Union aged just 17 years old.

Korbut, standing at 4 ft 11 is described on the Olympics website as the one who “ushered in an era of gymnastics dominated by young, lithe women.”

The Eastern European athlete became the standout of the Munich Games. After her breathtaking routine on the uneven parallel bars, Korbut recalled, "It was amazing. One day, I was a nobody, and the next day, I was a star."

Korbut is regarded as one of the female gymnasts who revolutionised the sport. She became the first gymnast to perform a back flip to catch on the uneven bars when she was 17. In her honour, the move has since become known as the Korbut Flip, a recognition of her impact on the sport. She was also the first to do a backward somersault on the beam.

Korbut managed two Olympic appearances during her time: the first being the 1972 Munich Olympics aged 17 and the final being the 1976 Montreal Olympics aged 21.

Despite her short-lived career where she retired in 1977 at the age of 22, the Belarusian gymnast won 4 Olympic gold medals.

She has since settled in the United States with her family mentoring a new generation of gymnasts as a coach after migrating in 1991 from Minsk to New Jersey, fearing the long-term health effects of the nearby Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in Ukraine.