Background
Voronina, Zinaida was born on December 10, 1947 in Ioshkar-Ola, Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
Voronina, Zinaida was born on December 10, 1947 in Ioshkar-Ola, Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
Voronina"s major debut came at the 1966 World Championships in Dortmund, Germany. She trained with Vladimir Shelkovnikov. Shortly thereafter she gave birth to a son, Dmitry, and came back to further successes at the 1970 World Championships, among other games.
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.
Saddled with her professional life and a difficult childhood (alcoholic mother, father she never met) she struggled with alcoholism. Subsequently, she was sent out of Moscow for "anti-social behavior".
She spent the remainder of her years working in a factory in Balashikha, Russia, dying in March 2001 at the age of 53. In 1969, she was awarded the "Order of the Badge of Honor".
There she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise, receiving the highest individual score of any gymnast at those games (9933). 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.
