Natalia Kuchinskaya
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2008-07-02T02:06:55Z
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{{Infobox Gymnast
|gymnastname= Natalia Kuchinskaya
|image=
|imagesize=
|caption=
|fullname= Natalia Alexandrovna Kuchinskaya
|nickname=Natasha
|country= {{URS}}
|formercountry=
|birthdate= {{birth date and age|1949|03|12}}
|birthplace= St. Petersburg, Russia
|hometown=
|height=
|discipline=Women's artistic gymnastics
|level=Senior international
|natlteam=
|club=
|gym=Round Lake national training center
|collegeteam=
|headcoach=
|assistcoach=
|formercoach=Vladimir Reyson; [[Larissa Latynina]]
|choreographer=
|music=
|eponymousskills=
|retired= 1968
|medaltemplates= <!-- see [[Template:MedalRelatedTemplates]] -->
{{medalOlympic}}
{{MedalGold|[[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City]]|[[Gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics|Team competition]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City]]|[[Gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics|Balance beam]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City]]|[[Gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics|All-around]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Mexico City]]|[[Gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics|Floor exercise]]}}
{{MedalWorldChampionships}}
{{MedalGold|[[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 Dortmund]]|Uneven bars}}
{{MedalGold|[[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 Dortmund]]|Balance beam}}
{{MedalGold|[[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 Dortmund]]|Floor exercise}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 Dortmund]]|Team competition}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 Dortmund]]|All-around}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 Dortmund]]|Vault}}
{{MedalEuropeanChampionships}}
{{MedalSilver|1967 Amsterdam|Balance beam}}
{{MedalSilver|1967 Amsterdam|Floor exercise}}
}}
'''Natalia Alexandrovna Kuchinskaya''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Наталья Александровна Кучинская; alternative transliteration '''Natal'ja Alieksandrovna Kutchinskaja'''), also known as '''Natasha Kuchinskaya''' (Russian: Наташа Кучинская) (born [[March 12]], [[1949]], [[St. Petersburg]], [[Russia]]) is a retired Soviet Olympic gymnast.
Kuchinskaya was born on March 12, 1949 in St. Petersburg and was selected for a gymnastics class while still in kindergarten.<ref name="redfiles1">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/sports/deep/interv/s_int_natasha_kuchinskaya.htm7|title=Interview with Natalia Kuchinskaya|publisher=''The Red Files'' supplementary material, PBS|date=1999|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref> She originally aspired to become a [[ballet dancer]], but was convinced to study gymnastics by her parents, who were both involved with the sport.<ref name="redfiles1">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/sports/deep/interv/s_int_natasha_kuchinskaya.htm7|title=Interview with Natalia Kuchinskaya|publisher=''The Red Files'' supplementary material, PBS|date=1999|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref> She trained with Vladimir Reyson and later national team coach [[Larissa Latynina]], who was said to consider Kuchinskaya one of her favorite gymnasts.<ref name="redfiles2">{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/sports/stry/sports_stry_script.doc|title=''Soviet Sports Wars''(transcript)|publisher=PBS|date=April 1999|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref>
By [[1965]], at age sixteen, Kuchinskaya was the USSR national champion. At the [[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|1966 World Championships]], after winning her second Nationals title, the USSR Cup and the World Trials, she established herself as one of the stars of the Soviet team, winning gold medals in three of the four event finals ([[balance beam]], [[uneven bars]] and [[floor exercise]]), a bronze on [[Gymnastics vault|vault]], and silvers in the all-around and team events. Kuchinskaya continued her winning streak in 1967, when she won the pre-Olympic test event in [[Mexico City]] and swept the USSR Nationals, walking away with the all-around title and every single event final gold medal.<ref name="forum">{{citeweb|url=http://www.gymn-forum.net/bios/women/kuchinskaya.html|title=List of competitive results|publisher=Gymn-Forum|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref>
At the 1968 Olympics, Kuchinskaya was arguably the most popular member of the Soviet team. She placed third in the all-around, behind [[Vera Caslavska]] and her teammate [[Zinaida Voronina]], she also shared in the team gold medal and won the [[balance beam]] title and a bronze on the floor exercise. She was dubbed "The Bride of Mexico" and "the Sweetheart of Mexico" by the admiring press and was serenaded with a folk song, "Natalie," during her stay in Mexico City.<ref name=redfiles2 /><ref name="legends">{{citeweb|url=http://www.intlgymnast.com/legends/kuchinskaya.html|title=Legends: Natalia Kuchinskaya|publisher=''International Gymnast''|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref><ref name="favorites">{{citeweb|url=http://www.gymn-forum.net/Articles/SP-KucShu.html|title=Do favorites always win?|publisher=''Sport in the USSR''|date=August 1988|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref>
The Olympics was Kuchinskaya's final competition. At the time, her sudden departure from gymnastics was attributed to a thyroid illness;<ref name=legends /> in an interview in the late 90s Kuchinskaya also revealed that she had lost her motivation for the sport.<ref name=redfiles1 />
Following her retirement, Kuchinskaya coached in the USSR, Japan and the United States. She has been married since 1980 to optician Alexander Kotliar and currently lives and coaches in the USA, running her own gymnastics club in [[Illinois]].<ref name=legends /><ref name="club">{{citeweb|url=http://www.internationalgymnasticsgym.com/aboutus.html|title=International Gymnastics home page|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref> In 1999 she appeared on the "Soviet Sport War" episode of the PBS documentary ''The Red Files'' discussing her experiences in gymnastics.<ref name=redfiles1 /> In 2006 she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.<ref name="legends">{{citeweb|url=http://www.ighof.com/honorees/honorees_kuchinskaya.html|title=Kuchinskaya's page at the IGHOF|publisher=International Gymnastics Hall of Fame|date=206|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref>
__NOTOC__ <!--Table of Contents seems not to be appropriate here so far-->
==Achievements (non-Olympic)==
{| border=1 cellpadding=1 cellspacing=2 style="border-collapse: collapse; text-align:center; font-size: 95%;"
|-
! align=center|Year
! align=center|Event
! width=30px|AA
! width=30px|Team
! width=30px|[[Gymnastics vault|VT]]
! width=30px|[[Gymnastics uneven bars|UB]]
! width=30px|[[Gymnastics balance beam|BB]]
! width=30px|[[Gymnastics floor|FX]]
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''1965'''||align=left|USSR Championships||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||||bgcolor=gold|1st||
|-
|align=left|USSR Cup||bgcolor=silver|2nd||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="3"|'''1966'''||align=left|[[1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships|World Championships]]||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=CC9966|3rd||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st
|-
|align=left|USSR Championships||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st
|-
|align=left|USSR Cup||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="2"|'''1967'''||align=left|European Championships||||||||||bgcolor=silver|2nd||bgcolor=silver|2nd
|-
|align=left|USSR Championships||bgcolor=gold|1st||||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st||bgcolor=gold|1st
|-
|rowspan="1"|'''1968'''||align=left|USSR Championships||bgcolor=gold|1st||||||||||
|}
==Where she is now==
She currently coaches at International gymnastics in Mt. Prospect, Illinois. <br> <br>
http://www.internationalgymnasticsgym.com/<br><br/>
==References==
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==External links==
*{{fig|id=4873|name=Natalia Kuchinskaya}}
{{NavigationOlympicChampionsArtisticGymnasticsWomenTC}}
[[Category:1949 births|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Living people|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Gymnasts at the 1968 Summer Olympics|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Artistic gymnasts|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Olympic gymnasts of the Soviet Union|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Soviet gymnasts|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:World champion gymnasts|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]
[[Category:Medalists at World Gymnastics Championships|Kuchinskaya, Natalia]]