Background
Petrik, Larisa was born on August 28, 1949 in Dolinsk, on South Sakhalin Island.
Petrik, Larisa was born on August 28, 1949 in Dolinsk, on South Sakhalin Island.
Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physical Culture, 1974.
Petrik competed at the 1966 World Championships where she shared in the team silver medal (gold went to the Czechoslovakians) and earned an individual bronze medal on the beam. After the competition was concluded, Petrik"s prelims scores were changed to let her tie with Čáslavská, an action which caused Čáslavská to publicly defy the Soviets who had recently invaded her home country. After marrying the Olympic gymnast Viktor Klimenko she changed her last name to Klimenko (Russian: Клименко).
She has two sons: Vladimir and Viktor.
Vladimir is a gymnast and Viktor is a ballet dancer.