Sofia Muratova Explained

Sofia Muratova
Full Name:Sofia Ivanovna Muratova
Birth Date:1929 7, df=yes
Birth Place:Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Death Date:[1]
Death Place:Moscow, Russia
Height:160 cm
Weight:55 kg
Discipline:WAG
Club:Dynamo Moscow
Show-Medals:yes

Sofia Ivanovna Muratova (Russian: Софья Ивановна Муратова, 13 July 1929 – 27 September 2006) was a Soviet gymnast. She competed in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won eight medals.

Early life

Muratova grew up in Leningrad and lost her mother during its siege. Muratova herself was evacuated from the city in 1941. During the war she could not regularly attend school, but tried to train every day. She took up artistic gymnastics in 1943, entering a children's sports school, and just three months later competed in the Russian Championships for girls. In 1944 she moved to Moscow, where she trained under Ivan Zhuravlyov.

First successes

In 1945 Muratova won her first major competition, the USSR Junior Championships. She soon became one of the strongest Soviet gymnasts, the only one to win five Soviet all-around titles, yet she was often unlucky at major international events.

World championships and Olympics

Muratova missed the 1952 Summer Olympics due to injury. Two years later, at the 1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she won a gold medal in the team competition and led the all-around contest, but broke her arm during a warm-up and had to withdraw from the championship. Her husband Valentin Muratov swore to win a gold medal for her and became the all-around champion. She debuted at the 1956 Summer Olympics, winning the team gold and two bronze medals, all-around and on the uneven bars. At the rather unsuccessful 1958 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Moscow Muratova won the team gold and two bronzes on vault and balance beam. Injuries haunted her on the way to the 1960 Summer Olympics, but with the help from Zoya Mironova, who operated Muratova just three months before the Olympics, she managed to recover and even win three medals - the team gold, all-around silver and bronze on the balance beam. She presented her gold medal to Mironova as a token of gratitude. Her two Olympic all-around medals (1956, 1960) were a rare feat accomplished by only eight other women gymnasts.

Muratova won seven all-around national titles, including the inaugural 1955 USSR Cup. She retired in 1965 and worked as a coach for 34 years. She was the head coach of the Soviet women's gymnastics team at the 1968 Olympics. Earlier in 1957 she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour. Muratova died on 27 September 2006. Her husband Valentin Muratov died on 6 October of the same year.

Achievements (non-Olympic)

YearEventwidth=30pxAAwidth=30pxTeamwidth=30pxVTwidth=30pxUBwidth=30pxBBwidth=30pxFXwidth=30pxR
1949USSR Championshipsbgcolor=gold1st bgcolor=silver2nd
1950USSR Championshipsbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=silver2nd
1951USSR Championships3rd
1954World Championshipsbgcolor=gold1st
USSR Championshipsbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=silver2ndbgcolor=silver2nd
1955USSR Championshipsbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=gold1st3rdbgcolor=gold1st
USSR Cupbgcolor=gold1st
1956USSR Championshipsbgcolor=silver2ndbgcolor=gold1st3rd
1957USSR Championshipsbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=silver2nd
1958World Championshipsbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=silver2ndbgcolor=silver2nd
USSR Championshipsbgcolor=silver2ndbgcolor=gold1st3rd3rd
1959USSR Championshipsbgcolor=silver2ndbgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=silver2nd
1960USSR Championshipsbgcolor=gold1st3rdbgcolor=gold1st
1962World Championshipsbgcolor=gold1st
USSR Championshipsbgcolor=silver2nd
1963USSR Championshipsbgcolor=gold1st3rd3rdbgcolor=silver2nd
USSR Cupbgcolor=silver2ndbgcolor=silver2nd3rd
1964USSR Championshipsbgcolor=silver2nd3rd
USSR Cupbgcolor=gold1st

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://izgotovleniepamyatnikov.ru/mogila/muratovy/ Sofia Muratova's grave

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