Nelli Kim

Nelli Kim was born of a Korean father and a Russian Tatar mother. Blessed with striking good looks, she was the darling of the media who also recognized her exceptional talent as a gymnast. She débuted at the World Championships in 1974 as a 17-year-old, finishing third on the balance beam. At the 1976 Montréal Olympics, Kim won three gold medals, but is best remembered for scoring a perfect 10.0 in the vault and floor exercise. At the 1980 Moskva Olympics, she helped the Soviet Union retain the team championship, and shared first place on the floor.

Kim was also impressive at the World Championships at which she won 11 medals between 1974 and 1979. After retiring from gymnastics Kim stayed involved in the sport, working at the Belorussian Gymnastics Federation. She later worked as a judge and coached the national teams of Belarus, Korea (South), and Italy. Kim moved up to become a vice-president of the International Gymnastics Federation. She called herself a person of the world as she was born in Tajikistan, grew up in Kazakhstan, competed for the USSR national team, but later lived in Belarus and the United States.