Top 6 Best Womens Gymnastics Players Of All Time

Gymnastics is a performative sport that encompasses systematic exercises and stunts, often performed in competition. It requires athletes to possess extreme coordination, strength, balance, flexibility, among other unique skills. Gymnasts use apparatuses, or pieces of equipment to perform skills that include, but are not limited to, tumbling, aerial flips, handstands, and splits. Gymnastics has been an official Olympic sport since the very first Olympic Games that took place in Athens, Greece, in 1896. Below are some of the top women’s gymnasts in the history of the sport.

Who Are the Best Women’s Gymnasts of All Time?

1. Simone Biles
2. Svetlana Khorkina
3. Larisa Latynina
4. Nadia Comăneci
5. Olga Korbut
6. Gina Gogean

1. Simone Biles

• Most decorated female gymnast in World Championship history.
• Six-time Olympic medalist
• Five National Championships and four World Championships.
• Earned gold at both U.S. Championship and the World Championship at 16

Simone Biles has cemented herself as the greatest gymnast of all time, becoming the most decorated female gymnast in World Championship history at only 25. With 25 total World Championship medals, an astounding 19 of them have been gold. In just a single Olympic Games, Biles won five total medals, four of them being gold. Biles is one of the most decorated gymnasts of all time. However, accolades are not the only thing that makes her so special. Her unique mixture of power, precision, and creativity keep her on the podium and on billboards. She has become one of the world’s most famous and recognizable athletes.

Biles has had two tricks named after her, the “Biles” and “Biles II”. She is the only person to ever land these tricks in competition. Recently, the international gymnastics judging body has attempted to reduce Biles’ possible success. As she proposed a new trick, never before landed in competition, the judges did not offer it the maximum score. It is believed they did this in order to dissuade other gymnasts from attempting the trick. Simone Biles is in a league of her own. Gymnastics is as advanced as it has ever been, and some believe that it is not safe for other gymnasts to attempt the same moves as Biles.

2. Svetlana Khorkina

• 47 Olympic, World, and European Championship medals.
• First gymnast to win three all-around titles at World Championships.
• Seven total Olympic medals.
• Five gold medals in the uneven bars at World Championships.
• Second gymnast to ever win three European all-around titles.

Svetlana Khorkina is one of the most successful gymnasts ever, having won 47 Olympic, World, and European Championship medals. She has seven total Olympic medals. In the World Championships, she has five gold medals in the uneven bars and is the first gymnast to win three all around-titles. Khorkina is also the second gymnast to ever win three European all-around titles. Khorkina’s career was plagued by injuries at times, but she was able to continuously come back and succeed.

Khorkina’s tall stature and unique physique kept her from performing many common tricks. However, this also played to her advantage because she could do things that shorter competitors were unable to accomplish. Due to her success and dominance on the uneven bars, she was nicknamed the “Queen of the Bars.” Her height allowed her to move back and forth between the bars with ease.

Further, in her floor and beam routines, she emphasized grace and beauty rather than the difficulty of tricks. She maintained her success for ten years, which is rare for a gymnast. Khorkina is widely considered to be the best Russian gymnast of all time, which is impressive as Russia has always been a powerhouse in gymnastics.

3. Larisa Latynina

• First female athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals
• Held record for most career Olympic medals at 18 until it was broken in 2012
• Inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1998
• One of three females to win every event at the World Championship or Olympic level

Larisa Latynina has won the most Olympic medals of any gymnast. She has won 18 total Olympic medals and held the record for overall Olympic medals until Michael Phelps broke the record in 2012. Latynina is one of only five athletes to have won nine gold medals. She is one of three women to have won every single event at the Olympic or World Championship level. Latynina is also one of three women to have ever won the same event at the Summer Olympics three times. 

Latynina was one of the first real gymnastics stars, first becoming popular in 1956. Latynina had a dancing background, so her performances clearly illustrated a dancer’s erect posture and classic lines. Nonetheless, Latynina began her Olympic career at age 21 and won her last medal while nearing age 30. This longevity and consistency allowed her to achieve the level of success she did.

4. Nadia Comăneci

• First woman to score a perfect 10.0 in an Olympic competition
• Earned seven perfect scores at 1976 Olympics
• Five-time Olympic gold medalist
• Won gold in all but one event at the European Championships at age 13
• Inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1996

Nadia Comăneci was a great gymnast whose claim to fame was scoring the first perfect 10.0 in Olympic competition. This shocked the world as Comăneci was only 14 years old at the time. During the 1976 Olympics, Comăneci earned a total of seven perfect scores. Throughout her career, she would go on to win a total of five Olympic gold medals and nine total medals. Comăneci, at just age 13, won gold in all but one event at the European Championships. Overall, in Comăneci’s professional career, she won over 30 total medals. 

Comăneci officially retired from professional gymnastics in 1984 and was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1996. Following her retirement, Comăneci was awarded to the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee. Comăneci improved the sport of gymnastics and took it to a new level. Her abilities inspired an entire generation, and she will be a gymnastics legend forever. 

5. Olga Korbut

• 13 total professional medals
• First gymnast to perform a backward aerial somersault on the balance beam
• Created the famous “Korbut flip”
• Won three medals at the 1972 Olympic games
• One of the leaders in the global popularization of gymnastics

At the 1972 Olympics, Olga Korbut changed the sport and became the first gymnast to attempt a backflip when releasing from the uneven bars. She stuck the landing and made history. This now-banned move was dubbed the “Korbut Flip.” For this, she was awarded a 9.8. When the score was announced, the crowd was in an uproar and chanted for a 10.0 for minutes straight. The judges did not change their scores. Overall, she won four Olympic gold medals and six total Olympic medals. 

Along with the famous Korbut Flip, Korbut also created the Korbut salto, a backwards aerial somersault on the balance beam. In total, Korbut won a total of 13 medals in the Olympics, World Championship, and European Championship. Korbut’s respectable medal accumulation and overall cultural impact make her unarguably one of the best gymnasts of all time.

6. Gina Gogean

• 30 total medals in the Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships.
• Nine total World Championship gold medals
• Known for the impressive difficulty of her tricks
• Inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2013

Gina Goegan was one of the most decorated women’s gymnasts, winning an astounding 30 total medals in her professional career (Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships). At the World Championships, she won a total of nine gold medals. The stretch from 1992 to 1997 also brought Goegan five Olympic and 15 World Championship medals. 

Gogean was known for her impressive stability and consistent ability to perform tricks over and over again continuously. There was scrutiny for her “playing it safe” while new and younger gymnasts began attempting harder tricks and pushing the limits of gymnastics. However, although scrutinized by many, she continued doing it and continued winning medals. In 2013, Gogean was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. 

Honorable Mentions

Věra Čáslavská

• Seven-time Olympic gold medalist
• Four-time World Champion
• 11-time European Champion

Věra Čáslavská was a legendary women’s gymnast who represented Czechoslovakia in the Olympics in 1960, 1964, and 1968. During this time, she earned a total of seven Olympic gold medals, making her one of the most successful Olympic women’s gymnasts of all time. Once you factor in her title wins in other competitions, such as the European and World Championships, Čáslavská held 22 total international wins. She is also one of two women’s gymnasts to ever win Olympic gold for the all-around in consecutive Olympics, having done so in both 1964 and 1968. 

Agnes Keleti

• Five-time Olympic gold medalist
• 1954 World Champion
• 13 total International medals

Agnes Keleti was a highly decorated Hungarian gymnast who competed in the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Keleti, who is Jewish, was forced to flee from her home country after the Nazi’s invaded and occupied Hungary. She made her Olympic debut at the relatively old age of 31 years old, yet was able to capture four medals in Helsinki. Keleti then went on to win six more medals at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. After the 1956 Olympics, Keleti once again was faced with a difficult decision, as the Soviet Union had just invaded Hungary. She ended up staying in Australia after the 1956 Olympics, where she was granted political asylum.

Polina Astakhova

• Three-time Olympian
• Five-time Olympic gold medalist
• Two-time World Champion
• Three-time European Champion

Polina Astakhova was a Ukrainian gymnast who represented the Soviet Union in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Olympics. She won 10 medals throughout her Olympic career, five of those being gold medals in various events. After retirement from competition, Astakhova became the coach of the Ukrainian Gymnastics Team. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2002.

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