Ludmilla Tourischeva

Ludmilla Tourischeva
— Gymnast —
Tourischeva at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Ludmilla Ivanovna Tourischeva
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1952-10-07) October 7, 1952 (age 64) Grozny, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Hometown	Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Elite
Head coach(es)	Vladislav Rastorotsky
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Team 1972 Munich Team 1972 Munich All-Around 1976 Montreal Team 1972 Munich Floor Exercise 1976 Montreal Vault 1976 Montreal Floor Exercise 1972 Munich Vault 1976 Montreal All-Around World Championships 1970 Ljubljana Team 1970 Ljubljana All-Around 1970 Ljubljana Floor Exercise 1974 Varna All-Around 1974 Varna Team 1974 Varna Floor Exercise 1974 Varna Balance Beam 1970 Ljubljana Uneven Bars 1974 Varna Vault 1970 Ljubljana Vault 1974 Varna Uneven Bars World Cup Final 1975 London All-Around 1975 London Vault 1975 London Uneven Bars 1975 London Balance Beam 1975 London Floor Exercise European Championships 1971 Minsk All-Around 1971 Minsk Vault 1971 Minsk Floor Exercise 1973 London All-Around 1973 London Vault 1973 London Uneven Bars 1973 London Balance Beam 1973 London Floor Exercise 1971 Minsk Uneven Bars 1971 Minsk Balance Beam 1969 Landskrona All-Around 1969 Landskrona Uneven Bars 1969 Landskrona Floor Exercise 1975 Skien Floor Exercise

Ludmilla Ivanovna Tourischeva (Russian: Людми́ла Ива́новна Тури́щева; also transliterated as Ludmilla Turischeva, Ludmilla Tourischcheva, and Ljudmila Turichtchieva), born October 7, 1952, is a former Russian gymnast and a nine-time Olympic medalist for the Soviet Union.

Tourischeva began gymnastics in 1965, at age 13, and began competing for the Soviet team in 1967. Coached by Vladislav Rastorotsky (who later trained Natalia Shaposhnikova and Natalia Yurchenko), she represented the Soviet Union at the 1968 Summer Olympics, just after her 16th birthday. She won the gold medal with the team and placed 24th in the all-around.

Two years later, Tourischeva became the leader of the Soviet team. From 1970 to 1974, she dominated almost every major international competition, winning the World Championships all-around gold in 1970 and 1974, the European Championships in 1971 and 1973, and the World Cup in 1975. She was considered to embody the classic Soviet style: grace, elegance, impeccable form, and strong technique.

At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Tourischeva won the all-around gold medal but was overshadowed by the sudden popularity of her younger compatriot Olga Korbut. She qualified for all four event finals, and won a silver and a bronze. Tourischeva was one of the first female gymnasts to use two separate pieces of music for her floor routines at an international competition. For the team competition, she used "March" from the film Circus by Isaak Dunaevsky, while for the all around, she used the music to the film Die Frau meiner Träume by Franz Grothe.

At the 1975 European Championships, Tourischeva placed third in the all-around behind 13-year-old Nadia Comăneci of Romania (who also won the vault, uneven bars, and balance beam apparatus finals) and her own teammate Nellie Kim (who placed second and won the floor exercise final). However, Tourischeva rebounded later that year to sweep the World Cup.