Happy Birthday, Svetlana Khorkina!

Svetlana celebrated her 34th birthday yesterday.

Performing here on beam in 1992, she wears the leotard of the Soviet national team well before she became famous as a Russian diva.

Khorkina had eight skills named after her - two vaults, two beam and one floor element, and three innovations on her particular genius, bars. She shared her career with coach Boris Pilkin (1928-2010) who was the architect of Khorkina's special style of gymnastics, at once powerful and lissom. It was always an intriguing partnership: the fiery blond gymnast, sometimes arrogant, sometimes vulnerable; alongside her elderly, white haired coach, quiet, gentle, a man of few words but whose mind must have been full of gymnastics.





Khorkina went on to win nine gold medals at World Championships, including three all around titles. She competed at three Olympics: 1996, 2000, and 2004, winning gold twice, on uneven bars, in 1996 and 2000. Her best result on beam was gold at the European Championships in Paris in 2000. Notoriously unpredictable, her longevity ensured that her talents were recognised and recorded.

It could be argued that on beam, Khorkina's talent shone brightest - those endless, long lines, the languid nature of movement that disguised the power, the fluidity of the routine. In 1992, in this video, Khorkina was still a junior gymnast moving up the ranks. But her nascent talent is there for all to see.