Nellie Kim facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nellie Kim
Kim in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Nellie Vladimirovna Kim
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1957-07-29) 29 July 1957 (age 67) Shurab, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union
Height	152 cm (5 ft 0 in)
Weight	47 kg (104 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Club	Spartak Shymkent (Kazakhstan) Soviet Armed Forces sports society Minsk (Byelorussia)
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games Gold 1976 Montreal Team Gold 1976 Montreal Vault Gold 1976 Montreal Floor Gold 1980 Moscow Team Gold 1980 Moscow Floor Silver 1976 Montreal All-around World Championships Gold 1974 Varna Team Gold 1978 Strasbourg Team Gold 1978 Strasbourg Vault Gold 1978 Strasbourg Floor Gold 1979 Fort Worth All-around Silver 1978 Strasbourg All-around Silver 1979 Fort Worth Team Silver 1979 Fort Worth Balance beam Silver 1979 Fort Worth Floor Bronze 1974 Varna Balance beam Bronze 1979 Fort Worth Vault Bronze 1979 Fort Worth Balance beam World Cup Final Silver 1979 Tokyo All-around Bronze 1979 Tokyo Vault Bronze 1979 Tokyo Balance beam European Championships Gold 1975 Skien Floor Gold 1977 Prague Vault Silver 1975 Skien All-around Silver 1975 Skien Balance beam Silver 1977 Prague Balance beam Bronze 1975 Skien Vault Bronze 1975 Skien Uneven bars Bronze 1977 Prague All-around Bronze 1977 Prague Floor

Nellie Vladimirovna Kim (born July 29, 1957) is a famous gymnast from the Soviet Union and later Belarus. She has a Sakhalin Korean and Tatar family background. Nellie won five gold medals and one silver medal at the Olympic Games in 1976 and 1980.

She was the second woman in Olympic history to achieve a perfect 10 score. She was also the first woman to get a perfect 10 on both the vault and the floor exercise. Nellie was a strong rival to other top gymnasts of the 1970s, like Nadia Comăneci and Ludmilla Tourischeva.

After her gymnastics career, Kim became a coach and a judge. She helped create new rules for women's gymnastics. These rules are part of the Code of Points and started in 2006. People remember her gymnastics for being powerful, exciting, and full of personality.

Early Life and Training

Nellie Kim was born in Shurab, a town in what was then the Soviet Union. Her father, Vladimir Kim, was of Sakhalin Korean descent. Her mother, Alfiya Safina, was Tatar.

Later, her family moved to Kazakh SSR, where her father worked in a factory. When she was nine, Nellie joined the Spartak Sports Society's Children and Youth Sports School in Chimkent. Her younger brother and sister also tried gymnastics, but they stopped later on.

Becoming a Top Gymnast

Nellie's coaches were Vladimir Baidin and his wife, Galina Barkova. At first, Nellie wasn't as flexible as some other gymnasts. But she made up for it with excellent technique and difficult moves. She quickly became one of the best gymnasts in the Soviet Union.

One of her first big wins was in a Spartak competition in Chimkent in 1969. However, a year later, famous gymnast Larisa Latynina said Nellie had "no future" in the sport. Nellie almost quit, but her coach Baidin encouraged her to keep going.

In 1971, at her first national competition, the Junior USSR Championships, she placed fifth. Two years later, she started winning big. Nellie won the all-around title at the All-Union Youth Sports Games. She also won the prestigious Chunichi Cup in Japan.

In 1974, she joined the Soviet team for the World Championships. There, she helped her team win a gold medal. From then until 1980, she competed successfully in many major international events. Her teammates called her "Kimanellie."

Olympic and World Championship Success

Nellie Kim at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Nellie Kim became a top contender for Olympic medals after the 1975 Canadian Pre-Olympics Test. At that event, she finished second in the all-around to Nadia Comăneci. However, Nellie won three gold medals in the individual events: vault, balance beam, and floor exercise.

Larisa Latynina, who had changed her mind about Kim, described her gymnastics as bright and joyful. Even though Kim won the 1976 USSR Cup, beating famous gymnasts like Olga Korbut and Ludmilla Tourischeva, the media still saw the others as leaders. This proved to be a mistake.

Rivalry at the 1976 Olympics

At the 1976 Summer Olympics, the competition between Nellie Kim and Nadia Comăneci was a highlight. Kim won three gold medals: one with her team, and two in individual events (vault and floor exercise). For her floor routine, she performed a fiery Samba. She was also the first woman to do a double back salto in Olympic women's gymnastics.

Nellie also won a silver medal in the all-around competition. She earned a perfect 10 for her Tsukahara vault with a full twist, another first in Olympic history. People admired her graceful and powerful style. Comăneci won the all-around gold. Nellie's performance on the balance beam was not as strong, which led her to finish second in the all-around.

Continued Success and Final Olympics

After the 1976 Olympics, Kim moved to Byelorussian SSR and joined a new sports club. Two years later, she competed successfully at the World Championships. She won gold medals on the vault, floor exercise, and with her team. She also placed second in the all-around.

Her greatest success came at the 1979 World Championships. There, Nellie Kim became the all-around champion. Her floor exercise routine was set to the song "House of the Rising Sun" by Santa Esmeralda.

In 1980, Kim won the all-around title at the USSR Championships. She then competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which was her last competition. She tied with Nadia Comăneci for the gold medal on the floor exercise. She also won gold in the team competition. As of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Nellie Kim and Larisa Latynina are the only female gymnasts to win two Olympic gold medals in the floor exercise.

Life After Gymnastics

After her gymnastics career, Nellie Kim became a coach and a judge. She coached the national teams of South Korea, Italy, and Belarus. In 1984, she became an International Brevet Judge. This meant she could judge many major international competitions, including the European Championships, World Championships, and Olympic Games.

In 1996, Kim was chosen for the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). She then moved to the United States. By 2002, she was living in Minnesota.

In 1999, Nellie Kim was honored by being inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Changing the Rules of Gymnastics

In 2004, Kim was elected President of the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee for the FIG. She played a key role in creating the 2006 changes to the Code of Points. These changes ended the use of the "perfect 10" score. They introduced a new scoring system where gymnasts could earn unlimited points.

These changes were made partly because of judging issues at the 2004 Summer Olympics. FIG officials, including Kim, wanted to prevent future problems. They aimed to make clean execution and artistic performance the most important parts of scoring.

The new scoring system was a big change and caused some discussion among fans and athletes. However, Kim and other officials said that the changes were made with advice from many gymnastics federations and judges. They also tested the new system at major events before it was fully adopted.

In 2013, some Russian coaches accused Kim of favoring American gymnasts. She strongly denied these claims.

A documentary film called Nelli Kim was made about her. It was filmed at the 1976 Summer Games and released in 1978. After the Soviet Union broke apart, Nellie Kim became a citizen of Belarus.

Nellie Kim's Unique Skills

Nellie Kim has seven gymnastics skills named after her in the official Code of Points. This means she was the first to perform these difficult moves in competition.

Competition Highlights

Here are some of Nellie Kim's results from major gymnastics competitions:

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
1971	Junior USSR Championships		5
1972	Druzhba
	Junior USSR-HUN Dual Meet
	Junior USSR Championships
	USSR School Spartakiade
1973	All-Union Youth Sports Games
	Chunichi Cup
	Druzhba			6
	USSR Cup		8
1974	Milk Meet		5
	Riga International
	USSR Championships
	USSR Cup
	World Championships		9
1975	Chunichi Cup		4
	European Championships
	Moscow News
	Pre-Olympics
	JPN-USSR Dual Meet
	USSR Championships
	USSR Cup
	USSR Spartakiade
1976	Chunichi Cup		15
	Tokyo Cup
	USSR Cup
	Olympic Games
1977
	European Championships
1978	USSR Cup		16
	World Championships
1979	Athens International
	USSR Championships		5			4
	USSR Spartakiade
	World Championships				5
	World Cup						8
1980	USSR Championships
	Olympic Games		5		6

See also

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists
• List of top medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
• List of Olympic female gymnasts for the Soviet Union