Larisa Latynina

Larisa Semyonovna Latynina (née Diriy; born 27 December 1934) is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast. Between 1956 and 1964 she won 14 individual Olympic medals and four team medals for the Soviet Union, and she holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a female gymnast, with nine. Her total of 18 Olympic medals, nine gold, five silver and four bronze, was a record for 48 years, and she held the record for individual event medals for over 52 years. Born in Kherson, she made her Olympic debut at the 1956 Melbourne Games at the age of 21. She is credited with helping to establish the Soviet Union as a dominant force in gymnastics, and she and the American swimmer Katie Ledecky are the only women to have won nine Olympic gold medals.