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VITALY SCHERBO - Belarus
2009 INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTICS HALL OF FAME
Inducted as a member of the Class of 2009
1992 Olympics
Gold: Team, All-Around, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault,
Parallel Bars
1996 Olympics
Bronze: All-Around, Vault, Parallel Bars, Horizontal
Bar
1991 World Championships
Gold: Team
Silver: All-Around, Floor Exercise, Vault
Bronze: Horizontal Bar
1992 World Championships
Gold: Pommel Horse, Rings
Silver: Floor Exercise
1993 World Championships
Gold: All-Around, Vault, Parallel Bars
Silver: Floor Exercise, Vault
Bronze: Horizontal Bar
1994 World Championships
Gold: Floor Exercise, Vault, Horizontal Bar
Bronze: All-Around
1995 World Championships
Gold: Floor Exercise, Parallel Bars
Silver: All-Around
Bronze: Vault
1996 World Championships
Gold: Floor Exercise
Silver: Parallel Bars
Bronze: Horizontal Bar
Considered by many as the best male gymnast of
all time, Vitaly Scherbo will be remembered as
much for his dynamic gymnastics as he will for
his outgoing personality. In 1996 one writer described
him as “hopelessly extroverted,” referring
to the gymnast’s propensity to openly react
unfavorably to scores and to speak his mind.
Prodigies tend to be unique, and Scherbo, who was
born Jan. 13, 1972, in Minsk, Belarus, was a genius
of gymnastics. He simply loved to win and hated
to lose. His frustration with the all-around silver
at the 1991 World Championships might well have
led to one of the most impressive performances
ever.
At the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, Scherbo was
nearly untouchable. He dominated the field by winning
six of the available eight gold medals, the most
titles of any single Olympics gymnastics competition.
The following year he won the world all-around
title and two apparatus golds. By the time his
career ended in 1996, he had won 10 Olympic medals
(six gold) and an incredible 23 world championship
medals (12 gold). The latter remains a record today.
Scherbo had no weak event, and won at least one
world title on each apparatus. His name is in the
Code of Points for a unique vault in which he performs
a full twist onto the horse.
After he retired from competition, Scherbo moved
to the U.S. with his wife and daughter. In 1998
he opened Vitaly Scherbo School of Gymnastics,
a 12,000-square-foot facility in northwest Las
Vegas.
Vitaly Scherbo may indeed have been outspoken as
an athlete, but his unparalleled results certainly
speak for themselves. |
