Zaharova Stella

About

Stella Zakharova, born on July 12, 1963, in Odesa, Ukraine, was one of the most remarkable artistic gymnasts of the Soviet Union, active between 1977 and 1982. Her career culminated with a gold medal in the team event at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, alongside her teammates from the USSR team, according to olympics.com and olympedia.org. She particularly excelled in vault and floor exercise, being the first woman to include three double somersaults in her floor routine, and won all-around titles at the American Cup, Moscow News, and the World Cup in 1979, plus medals at the World Championships, including team gold in 1981. Zakharova represented the Trudovye Rezervy club from Kyiv and competed under the Soviet flag, winning multiple medals at competitions such as the 1981 Summer Universiade in Bucharest, where she won gold in vault and silver in the all-around and team events, as noted by olympedia.org. She was part of the Soviet team that dominated world gymnastics, although in 1979 they yielded for the first time to Romania at the World Championships in Fort Worth. Her performances were recognized with the title of Honored Master of Sports after the 1980 Olympics, and in Ukraine, she is honored annually through the Stella Zakharova Cup, an artistic gymnastics competition. After retiring in 1982, Stella Zaharova married Dynamo Kyiv football player Viktor Khlus, with whom she has a son and a daughter. Although originally from Odesa, her ties to Kyiv continued, and in recent years she has played an important administrative role in Ukrainian gymnastics, promoting the sport in her native country. Her contribution to gymnastics remains an example of excellence and dedication in the context of Soviet and post-Soviet sports.