Zinaida Voronina

Zinaida Voronina, born Zinaida Borisovna Druzhinina (also Druginina), (Russian: Зинаида Борисовна Дружинина Воронина; 10 December 1947, in Yoshkar-Ola, Mari ASSR – 17 March 2001) was a Soviet gymnast who competed at the European, World, and Olympic level from the mid-1960s to early 1970s.[1]

Zinaida Voronina
Zinaida Voronina in 1967
Personal information
Country represented	Soviet Union
Born	(1947-12-10)10 December 1947 Yoshkar-Ola, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	17 March 2001(2001-03-17) (aged 53) Balashikha, Moskva, Russia
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	53 kg (117 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Club	Dynamo Moscow
Retired	1972
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Team 1968 Mexico City All-Around 1968 Mexico City Vault 1968 Mexico City Uneven bars World Championships 1970 Ljubljana Team 1966 Dortmund Team 1966 Dortmund Floor Exercise 1970 Ljubljana All-around 1970 Ljubljana Uneven Bars 1970 Ljubljana Floor Exercise European Championships 1967 Amsterdam All-Around 1967 Amsterdam Balance Beam 1967 Amsterdam Floor Exercise

Voronina's major debut came at the 1966 World Championships in Dortmund, Germany. There she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise, receiving the highest individual score of any gymnast at those games (9.933).[2] She trained with Vladimir Shelkovnikov.[3]

She went on to win several individual medals over the next four years, most notably at the 1968 Summer Olympics where she won the individual all-around silver behind Věra Čáslavská. At the same games, she became Olympic champion in the team competition.[2]

Around the time of the 1968 games, she married Olympic gymnast Mikhail Voronin. Shortly thereafter she gave birth to a son, Dmitry, and came back to further successes at the 1970 World Championships, among other games.[3] She attempted to make the Soviet team for the 1972 Olympics, but faced a strong competition and only placed 10th in the individual all-around at the national championships.[2]

The same year she retired and started working as a gymnastics coach together with her husband. Saddled with her professional life and a difficult childhood (alcoholic mother, father she never met) she struggled with alcoholism. In 1980, she was divorced from her husband, who received custody of their son (he later became a competitive gymnast). Subsequently, she was sent out of Moscow for "anti-social behavior".[3] She spent the remainder of her years working in a factory in Balashikha, Russia, dying in March 2001 at the age of 53.[2]

In 1969, she was awarded the "Order of the Badge of Honor".