Vitaly Scherbo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vitaly Scherbo
Full name	Vitaly Venediktovich Scherbo
Country represented	Belarus
Former countries represented	CIS ( Unified Team),  Soviet Union
Born	(1972-01-13) 13 January 1972 (age 53) Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Belarus)
Height	169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 6 0 4 World Championships 12 7 4 European Championships 9 5 2 Universiade 3 3 2 Goodwill Games 4 1 0 World Cup Final 2 1 1 Olympic Games Representing  Belarus Bronze 1996 Atlanta All-Around Bronze 1996 Atlanta Vault Bronze 1996 Atlanta Parallel Bars Bronze 1996 Atlanta Horizontal Bar Representing  CIS ( Unified Team) Gold 1992 Barcelona Team Gold 1992 Barcelona All-Around Gold 1992 Barcelona Pommel Horse Gold 1992 Barcelona Rings Gold 1992 Barcelona Vault Gold 1992 Barcelona Parallel Bars World Championships Representing  Belarus Gold 1993 Birmingham All-Around Gold 1993 Birmingham Vault Gold 1993 Birmingham Parallel Bars Gold 1994 Brisbane Floor Gold 1994 Brisbane Vault Gold 1994 Brisbane Horizontal Bar Gold 1995 Sabae Floor Gold 1995 Sabae Parallel Bars Gold 1996 San Juan Floor Silver 1993 Birmingham Floor Silver 1995 Sabae All-Around Silver 1996 San Juan Parallel Bars Bronze 1994 Brisbane All-Around Bronze 1995 Sabae Vault Bronze 1996 San Juan Horizontal Bar Representing  CIS ( Unified Team) Gold 1992 Paris Pommel Horse Gold 1992 Paris Rings Silver 1992 Paris Floor Representing  Soviet Union Gold 1991 Indianapolis Team Silver 1991 Indianapolis All-Around Silver 1991 Indianapolis Floor Silver 1991 Indianapolis Vault Bronze 1991 Indianapolis Horizontal Bar European Championships Representing  Belarus Gold 1994 Prague Vault Gold 1996 Broendby Floor Gold 1996 Broendby Vault Gold 1996 Broendby Parallel Bars Silver 1994 Prague Horizontal Bar Silver 1996 Broendby All-Around Bronze 1996 Broendby Horizontal Bar Representing  CIS ( Unified Team) Gold 1992 Budapest Pommel Horse Gold 1992 Budapest Vault Silver 1992 Budapest Floor Silver 1992 Budapest Rings Silver 1992 Budapest Parallel Bars Bronze 1992 Budapest All-Around Representing  Soviet Union Gold 1990 Lausanne Floor Gold 1990 Lausanne Vault Gold 1990 Lausanne Horizontal Bar Universiade Representing  Belarus Gold 1993 Buffalo All-Around Gold 1993 Buffalo Vault Gold 1995 Fukuoka Vault Silver 1993 Buffalo Parallel Bars Silver 1995 Fukuoka Parallel Bars Silver 1995 Fukuoka Horizontal Bar Bronze 1993 Buffalo Horizontal Bar Bronze 1995 Fukuoka All-Around Goodwill Games Representing  Soviet Union Gold 1990 Seattle Team Gold 1990 Seattle All-Around Gold 1990 Seattle Vault Gold 1990 Seattle Horizontal Bar Silver 1990 Seattle Floor World Cup Final Representing  Soviet Union Gold 1990 Brussels Floor Gold 1990 Brussels Vault Silver 1990 Brussels All-Around Bronze 1990 Brussels Rings

Vitaly Scherbo (born January 13, 1972) is a famous former artistic gymnast from Belarus. He is known as one of the most successful gymnasts ever. Vitaly is the only male gymnast to have won a world title in all eight gymnastics events. These events include the individual all-around, team, floor exercise, horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, and vault.

Vitaly Scherbo was the top athlete at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He won six gold medals out of eight possible events. These wins included the team event, the all-around, and four of the six individual event finals.

Vitaly Scherbo's Gymnastics Journey

Vitaly Scherbo started his international career in 1990. He competed for the USSR team at the World Championship and the World Cup. In 1991, he won a silver medal in the World All-Around competition. He also scored a perfect 10.0 on the vault at the European Championships in 1990. He also did very well at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle.

Olympic Glory in Barcelona

As the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona got closer, some coaches thought Vitaly might not win as many medals as his more experienced teammates. But Vitaly surprised everyone with an amazing performance. He won six gold medals, which was a huge achievement. His gold medals were for the team event, the all-around, pommel horse (a tie), rings, vault, and parallel bars.

Life and Training After the Olympics

After his big success at the Olympics, Vitaly and his wife, Irina, moved to the United States. They settled in State College, Pennsylvania. This move helped Vitaly build on his Olympic fame. He continued to do well in gymnastics. He won the World All-Around title in 1993. He also placed third in 1994 and second in 1995 in the World All-Around competition.

In late 1995, Vitaly's wife, Irina, was in a car accident. She was badly hurt and needed time to recover. Vitaly stopped his training to be with her. After a month, Irina started to get better. She encouraged Vitaly to start training again for the upcoming Olympic season. As Irina recovered, Vitaly also got back into top shape. He won another World title in 1996.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Vitaly won four bronze medals. His performances showed how strong he was, even after a difficult time. He had less time to prepare because of his wife's recovery.

Vitaly Scherbo had planned to compete in the 1997 World Championships. However, he had an accident and injured his hand. He decided to retire from gymnastics soon after.

Vitaly Scherbo's Special Skill

Gymnasts sometimes have special moves named after them. Vitaly Scherbo has a vault named the Scherbo. This vault is a Yurchenko-style vault. It has a special entry where the gymnast does a full twist while doing a back-handspring between the springboard and the vaulting table.

More About Gymnastics

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists
• List of Olympic medal leaders in men's gymnastics
• List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists