The Most Famous

GYMNASTS from Ukraine

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This page contains a list of the greatest Ukrainian Gymnasts. The pantheon dataset contains 370 Gymnasts, 8 of which were born in Ukraine. This makes Ukraine the birth place of the 11th most number of Gymnasts behind Germany, and Hungary.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Ukrainian Gymnasts of all time. This list of famous Ukrainian Gymnasts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Ukrainian Gymnasts.

Photo of Larisa Latynina

1. Larisa Latynina (b. 1934)

With an HPI of 66.22, Larisa Latynina is the most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 61 different languages on wikipedia.

Larisa Semyonovna Latynina (Russian: Лариса Семёновна Латынина, née Diriy, Дирий; born 27 December 1934) is a former Soviet artistic gymnast. Between 1956 and 1964 she won 14 individual Olympic medals and four team medals. She holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a gymnast, male or female, with 9. Her total of 18 Olympic medals was a record for 48 years. She held the record for individual event medals, winning 14 over 52 years. She is credited with helping to establish the Soviet Union as a dominant force in gymnastics.

Photo of Viktor Chukarin

2. Viktor Chukarin (1921 - 1984)

With an HPI of 51.99, Viktor Chukarin is the 2nd most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Viktor Ivanovich Chukarin (Russian: Виктор Иванович Чукарин, Ukrainian: Віктор Іванович Чукарін; 9 November 1921 – 25 August 1984) was a Ukrainian gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. He won eleven medals including seven gold medals at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics (including the individual all-around title on both occasions) and was the all-around world champion in 1954. He was the most successful athlete at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Anna Bessonova

3. Anna Bessonova (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 39.45, Anna Bessonova is the 3rd most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Hanna Volodymyrivna Bezsonova (Ukrainian: Ганна Володимирівна Безсонова/Hanna Volodymyrivna Bezsonova; born 29 July 1984) is a Ukrainian former individual rhythmic gymnast. She is one of the most decorated rhythmic gymnast of her generation. She is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2004 and 2008); a five-time medalist in the all-around competition of the World Championships: gold in 2007, silver in 2003 and 2005, bronze in 2001 and 2009; a four-time medalist in the all-around competition of the European Championships: silver in 2004 and 2008, bronze in 2002 and 2006; and a four-time medalist in the all-around competition of the Grand Prix Final: gold in 2003, silver in 2002 and 2005, bronze in 2004.

Photo of Tatiana Lysenko

4. Tatiana Lysenko (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 35.45, Tatiana Lysenko is the 4th most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Tatiana Felixivna Lysenko (Ukrainian: Тетяна Фелiксiвна Лисенко; born June 23, 1975) is a Soviet and Ukrainian former gymnast, who had her senior competitive career from 1990 to 1994. Lysenko was a member of the Soviet Union team during the early 1990s, a period when its pool of talent was deep (the USSR never lost the women's team competition in the Olympic Games). She is the 1992 Olympic champion on balance beam.

Photo of Hrihoriy Misyutin

5. Hrihoriy Misyutin (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 33.01, Hrihoriy Misyutin is the 5th most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Hryhoriy Misyutin (Ukrainian: Григорій Місютін ; born 29 December 1970) is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast, formerly representing the Soviet Union and the Unified Team.

Photo of Tatiana Gutsu

6. Tatiana Gutsu (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 32.69, Tatiana Gutsu is the 6th most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Tatiana Gutsu, rarely Tetiana Hutsu, (Ukrainian: Тетяна Костянтинівна Ґуцу, Romanian: Tatiana Guțu; born 5 September 1976, in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast from the Soviet Union and the winner of the all-around title in the 1992 Summer Olympics. She was renowned for performing some of the most difficult routines in the sport. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2022.

Photo of Oleg Vernyayev

7. Oleg Vernyayev (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 31.32, Oleg Vernyayev is the 7th most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Oleg Yuriyovych Verniaiev (Ukrainian: Олег Юрійович Верняєв; born 29 September 1993) is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic parallel bars champion and individual all-around silver medalist. Verniaiev is also the 2014 World parallel bars champion, the 2015 European individual all-around champion and the 2017 European individual all-around champion. Verniaiev tested positive for the banned substance meldonium in an out-of-competition test in August 2020. He received a four-year ban, starting in November 2020. In early 2023 the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban to two years after Verniaiev successfully appealed his case.

Photo of Valeriy Honcharov

8. Valeriy Honcharov (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 31.01, Valeriy Honcharov is the 8th most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Valeriy Honcharov (also spelled Goncharov, Ukrainian: 'Валерій Гончаров, romanized: Valeriy Honcharov, born 19 September 1977) is a gymnast from Ukraine. He won gold in the men's parallel bars apparatus at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Photo of Artem Dolgopyat

9. Artem Dolgopyat (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 29.43, Artem Dolgopyat is the 9th most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Artem Olegovich Dolgopyat (Hebrew: ארטיום אולגוביץ' דולגופיאט; Ukrainian: Артем Олегович Долгопят; born 16 June 1997) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli artistic gymnast who specializes in the floor exercise. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and the 2023 World champion on floor exercise. He also won two silver medals at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships on the floor exercise, and is the 2020 and 2022 European champion of that exercise.

Photo of Anastasia Bliznyuk

10. Anastasia Bliznyuk (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 26.71, Anastasia Bliznyuk is the 10th most famous Ukrainian Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Anastasia Ilyinichna Bliznyuk (Russian: Анастасия Ильинична Близнюк, IPA: [ɐnəstɐˈsʲiɪ̯ə blʲɪˈzʲnʲuk]; born 28 June 1994) is a Russian group rhythmic gymnast. She is a two-time 2012 and 2016 Olympics Group All-around champion and 2020 Olympics Group All-around silver medalist, 2017 World Group All-around champion, 2013 World Group All-around bronze medalist, and three-time European (2012, 2016, 2018) Group All-around champion. Bliznyuk is the third group rhythmic gymnast to win two gold medals in the Olympic Games after the late Natalia Lavrova and Yelena Posevina and the only rhythmic gymnast to win three medals in the Olympic Games.

People

Pantheon has 12 people classified as Ukrainian gymnasts born between 1921 and 1997. Of these 12, 11 (91.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Ukrainian gymnasts include Larisa Latynina, Anna Bessonova, and Tatiana Lysenko. The most famous deceased Ukrainian gymnasts include Viktor Chukarin. As of April 2024, 4 new Ukrainian gymnasts have been added to Pantheon including Hrihoriy Misyutin, Valeriy Honcharov, and Karolina Sevastyanova.

Living Ukrainian Gymnasts

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Deceased Ukrainian Gymnasts

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Newly Added Ukrainian Gymnasts (2024)

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