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 68) Shurab, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union
Height	152 cm (5 ft 0 in)
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 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 retired gymnast. She competed for the Soviet Union and later became a citizen of Belarus. Nellie won five gold medals and one silver medal at the Summer Olympics.

She was the second woman in Olympic history to get a perfect 10 score. She was also the first woman to earn a perfect 10 on the vault and the floor exercise. Nellie was a strong competitor against 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 used by the FIG. People remember her gymnastics for being strong, exciting, and full of personality.

Early Life and Training

Nellie Kim was born in Shurab, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. Her father was of Sakhalin Korean descent, and her mother was Tatar. Her family later moved to Kazakh SSR.

When she was 9, Nellie started training at a sports school in Chimkent. Her younger brother and sister also tried gymnastics for a while. Nellie's trainers were Vladimir Baidin and his wife, Galina Barkova.

At first, Nellie wasn't as flexible as some other gymnasts. But she worked hard and used great technique. She also made her routines very difficult. This helped her become one of the best gymnasts in the Soviet Union.

First Competitions

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

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

In 1974, Nellie 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 big international events. Her teammates sometimes called her "Kimanellie."

Olympic and World Success

Nellie at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Nellie Kim became a top contender for medals at the Olympics after a competition in Canada in 1975. She finished second in the all-around to Nadia Comăneci. But Nellie won three gold medals in individual events: vault, balance beam, and floor exercise.

Even though Nellie won the 1976 USSR Cup, beating famous gymnasts like Olga Korbut and Ludmilla Tourischeva, the media still saw others as the main leaders. This proved to be a mistake.

1976 Montreal Olympics

At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the competition between Nellie Kim and Nadia Comăneci was very exciting. Nellie won three gold medals. One was with her team, and two were in individual events: the vault and floor exercise.

For her floor routine, Nellie used fiery Samba music. She was the first woman to perform a double back salto in the Olympics. Nellie also won a silver medal in the all-around competition. She earned a perfect 10 for her Tsukahara vault with a full twist. This was also a first in Olympic history. People admired her for her beauty and her exciting, graceful style.

Later World Championships

After the 1976 Olympics, Nellie moved to Byelorussian SSR. She continued to represent her new club on the USSR team. In 1978, she competed 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 biggest success came at the 1979 World Championships. There, Nellie became the all-around champion. Her floor exercise routine was set to the song "House of the Rising Sun".

1980 Moscow Olympics

In 1980, Nellie 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 for the gold medal on the floor exercise with Nadia Comăneci. She also won gold with her team.

As of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Nellie Kim and Larisa Latynina are the only female gymnasts to win the Olympic gold medal in the floor exercise event twice in a row.

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 big international competitions, including the European Championships, World Championships, and Olympic Games.

At one point, her judging license was temporarily paused due to concerns about scoring. After this pause, she judged again at the Barcelona Games. Since 1993, she has been in charge of the Judging Committee for Artistic Gymnastics in Belarus.

Nellie Kim's first marriage was to fellow gymnast Vladimir Achasov. Later, she married Soviet cyclist Valery Movchan. They met at the 1980 Olympics. They have a daughter, also named Nellie.

In 1996, Kim was chosen to be part of the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee for the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). She then moved to Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1999, Nellie Kim was honored by being added to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Changing the Rules of Gymnastics

In 2004, Nellie Kim was elected President of the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee for the FIG. She helped create new rules for gymnastics that started in 2006. These changes ended the use of the "perfect 10" score. They introduced a new scoring system where gymnasts could earn unlimited points.

The reason for these changes was to make judging fairer and clearer. FIG officials, including Kim, wanted to make sure that clean performances and artistic skill were the most important things. The new system was tested at major events before it was fully adopted.

In 2013, some Russian coaches said Nellie Kim favored American gymnasts. She strongly disagreed with this idea.

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

Nellie Kim's Special Skills

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

Competition History Highlights

Nellie Kim competed in many events throughout her career. Here are some of her top results:

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

In Spanish: Neli Kim para niños

• 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