Written by Dwight Normile, Editor IG Magazine

(Left to right) Eileen Langsley (UK, AAI International Order of Merit Recipient), Henrietta Onodi (Hungary) and Cathy Rigby (USA) were honored at the 14th annual International Gymnastics Hall of Fame induction dinner May 15 in Oklahoma City. Also honored were fellow Class of 2010 inductees Yuri Korolev (Russia) and Mikhail Voronin (Russia). Photo, courtesy of IG Magazine

Their stories are as different as the apparatus on which they made history. The four gymnasts honored at the 14th annual induction ceremony of the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame combined to win 35 world and Olympic medals. Yuri Korolev, Henrietta Onodi, Cathy Rigby (who was inducted in 1998 but could not attend that year) and the late Mikhail Voronin were the latest to join the growing list of legends in the Hall of Fame, while former FIG photographer Eileen Langsley received the AAI International Order of Merit. And as each was honored at the exclusive Petroleum Club in Oklahoma City on May 15, a common theme emerged. Yes, the emotional acceptance speeches transported the gathered guests back in time, but they also ushered them forward with a new sense of inspiration. Here are their stories…

Mikhail Voronin (Russia)
At a time when Japan was ruling men’s gymnastics, Mikhail Voronin was often able to keep the Soviet Union on the medal podium. And though his USSR teams always finished second at world and Olympic competitions during his career, Voronin emerged a champion more than once.
Born March 26, 1945, in Moscow, Voronin was dominant at the 1966 world championships in Dortmund. After winning the silver with his team, he won the all-around title and the gold on rings. He also won silver medals on pommel horse and parallel bars.
Two years later, Voronin won Olympic gold medals on vault and horizontal bar in Mexico City, where he and his wife, Zinaida Druzhinina Voronina, both won silvers in the all-around.
Voronin competed in the 1970 world championships and 1972 Olympics before retiring, but his name lives on in the Code of Points for the piked flank vault he invented on high bar.
In 1973 Voronin earned a degree in physical culture from the Lenin Sports Institute, and in ’79 he received the title of Honored Coach of the Soviet Union.
After the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s, Voronin was instrumental in saving the prestigious Dynamo-Moscow, which is now called the Voronin Gymnastics Club.
Today, the club is Russia’s best.
“Dynamo was able to stay successful because of Voronin,” said Alexander Tkatchev, who trained under Voronin. “He was really confident in his beliefs. He knew what he wanted and he always achieved his goals.”
Voronin passed away on May 29, 2004, but his name lives on at the gym he kept alive.

Henrietta Onodi (Hungary)
Though she competed during one of the most competitive eras of women’s gymnastics, the slight but mighty Henrietta Onodi knocked off many of the sports biggest names with regularity.
Born May 22, 1974, in Békéscsaba, where she was coached by Mihaly and Julia Unyatyinszki, Onodi accented her high degree of difficulty with original elements to stand out from her peers. And though she won gold medals on vault and silvers on floor exercise at both the world championships and Olympics in 1992, she never forgot who had helped her along the way.
“Somehow, I always felt a little bit lonely [on the awards podium],” she said. “I never did gymnastics for the awards. I enjoyed what I was doing, and it gave me great pleasure to achieve better results each time. But once I was up there, I always felt that the people who supported me should be standing up there. So today, I’d like to thank those people.”
Onodi first mentioned her coaches. “They always knew I wasn’t the most talented gymnast,” she said of the Unyatyinszkis. “I was what was called the ‘B Group.’ But they saw something in me and worked with my abilities, which is what great coaches do.”
Then she thanked her grandmother, “who is a little bitty person but [has] the biggest heart, and I hope I can be as kind and understanding as she is.”
When Onodi began to credit her parents as “the biggest support throughout my career,” her emotions finally spilled forth. “My mom was always just my mom,” said a choked-up Onodi, who is expecting her third child in September. “She was very relieved when I stopped gymnastics. She wanted me to succeed, but she wanted me to be happy.
“I want to thank my dad, who was the greatest dad ever. He was always there for me. He was there when I was born, and I had some hip problems. And [when] the doctor told him that I will never walk straight, he told him, ‘Just watch and see.’”
Onodi said her father was the only person who believed in her comeback for the 1996 Olympics at age 22, despite the fact that she was past her medal-winning prime. “Unfortunately, he passed away the same year after the (1996) Olympics,” she said. “I know I can’t see him today, but I know he’s here.
“So this award goes to all of those people who have supported me, and I hope they are proud of me, because I am very proud. And thank you very much.”
Today Onodi, who earned a marketing degree in 2001 from the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, runs Olympic Health Chiropractic in Jacksonville, Fla., with her husband, Dr. James Haley.

Yuri Korolev (Russia)
If not for politics and poor luck, Yuri Korolev could have added a chapter or two to his legend, but the two-time world all-around champion never got to prove himself on the sport’s biggest stage: the Olympics. The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and Korolev tore an Achilles’ tendon at the 1988 Soviet Olympic trials. Still, his collection of 13 medals — including nine gold — across four world championships is remarkable.
Born Aug. 25, 1962, in Vladimir, Russia, Korolev was both a consummate all-arounder and cool competitor. His routines were cleverly choreographed to maximize his unique abilities, and they often were completed with a cat-like dismount landing.
Korolev also was an innovator. He was the first to dismount from rings with a triple flyaway (1981), and he performed consecutive Tkatchevs (the first from one arm) on high bar as early as 1986. He also was one of the first to perform handstands on pommel horse and vaults using only one arm, and his name is in the Code of Points for a skill on parallel bars: back giant to immediate straddle cut to support.
Korolev’s resume is filled with several major victories besides those at the world championships. In 1986, he won the inaugural Goodwill Games in Moscow and tied rival Li Ning for the World Cup title in Beijing. He also won three University Games (1981, ’83, ’87).
Though Korolev’s ill-timed injury in 1988 ended his Olympic dreams, he returned to competition in 1989. However, he was unable to qualify to his fifth consecutive world championships that year.
No, Korolev never competed in the Olympics. But among fellow gymnasts and loyal fans, he was truly admired and respected like few others before or since.
Unfortunately, Korolev experienced more misfortune when visa complications prevented him from attending this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony.

Cathy Rigby (USA)
Officially inducted in 1998 but unable to attend because of her starring role in Peter Pan, Cathy Rigby closed the evening with the style and grace that defined her gymnastics.
“I’m so grateful to be here,” said Rigby, 57, who then quipped, “I’m sorry it took me 12 years; I was stuck in that harness all that time.”
Yes, before she was flying above stages as “the boy who never grew up,” Rigby spoke of her unusual upbringing as a gymnast in Southern California. And like Onodi, Rigby remembered those who enabled her career, which included the first world championship medal by an American gymnast (silver on beam in 1970).
“It’s really difficult to stand up here and thank all the people who have touched your life and helped you achieve certain goals, but I have to tell you that the last three days have been—(Rigby paused to collect her emotions)—extraordinary, because I’ve been away from the sport for a very long time. And part of that was because I wanted to get away at one point to kind of take on another identity and figure out who I was. I had an amazing time in the sport, and I will thank those people for that … it’s like coming home to family. It’s something I will cherish forever.”
Rigby first thanked her husband, Tom McCoy, with whom she continues to work in entertainment. Then she recognized Frank Bare (first executive director of the U.S. Gymnastics Federation): “He was like a dad. He was just so wonderful….”
Next, Rigby offered telling vignettes of her late coach, Bud Marquette. “He was a pain in the you-know-what sometimes to deal with, but he gave his heart and soul to the sport of gymnastics and to me,” she said.
Finally, Rigby spoke fondly of her mother. “She was an example of how to be and how to act and how to persevere,” said Rigby, a mother of four and grandmother of three. “Whenever I would come home from a competition, my mom was just there. There was no judgment. It was just a hug and, ‘Honey, how are you?’ and ‘Good job.’ And I never realized how much that meant to me. So I am forever grateful to this amazing woman.”
Rigby also said she was “so grateful and proud to be part of the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame,” which now has 72 members representing 20 countries.
Before the inductees and gathered guests mingled for photo opportunities and autographs, emcee Bart Conner closed the evening with these fitting words: “Excellence to us is inspiring, and that’s all we try to capture on this night.”
Yet once again, the overall impact on those in attendance was so much more.

AAI International Order of Merit
Eileen Langsley   
Before the Internet spawned myriad windows into the world of gymnastics, fans relied on print publications to follow their favorite sport. And more than likely, their love for gymnastics was not only sustained, but deepened, too, by the photographic brilliance of Eileen Langsley.
From 1984-2001 Langsley chronicled the sport on film as the official photographer for the International Gymnastics Federation. And while national federation photographers had the luxury of shooting only gymnasts from their own countries, Langsley created an extensive photo library of every FIG member nation. That meant shooting every team in every session at every major competition, most of which came before auto-focus and digital cameras.
In addition to promoting gymnastics through her beautiful photography, Langsley also worked diligently to improve conditions for all photographers. She never abused her privileged position of shooting from the actual competition floor, but instead remained as inconspicuous as possible. Such was the deep respect she held for the sport and its participants.
A native of Sheffield, England, Langsley fell into photography by accident. As head of girls’ P.E. at a secondary school in Sheffield, she began taking photos to assist with her coaching skills and to inspire her students. Once she made a career of it, success followed despite working in a field dominated by men at the time. In the 1980s, Langsley was a prize winner in the AIPS International Sports Photo contest five years in a row. Her shot of a North Korean rhythmic group won British Sports Photo of the Year in 1985.
“This is really overwhelming,” said Langsley, whose images graced 93 covers of IG. “I have had a wonderfully long relationship with International Gymnast magazine. First of all, with the great Glenn Sundby, who encouraged me so much, and then latterly with Paul (Ziert, IG publisher), who’s been a tremendous support.
“It’s wonderful for me, but I also see this as recognition for the role that photography itself plays in the sport of gymnastics and everything it does to promote it. And I’ve worked with some great colleagues … and I hope that they all feel that they’re part of this award too.”
Langsley also thanked her husband, Gerry, whom she met in the 1960s while taking a walk in scenic Derbyshire, England. They still live there today. “Without his love and support over 40 years, I couldn’t possibly have achieved anything that I have done,” Langsley said.
After retiring from the FIG, Langsley devoted more time to gardening and eventually sold her photo library of more than 500,000 images to IG. “It’s thanks to the vision of Paul Ziert that my archives have a great place.”

10th Anniversary Induction Ceremonies
Celebrate the Class of 2006 — Four Legends from Japan, Russia and the U.S.A.

Oklahoma City, OK, USA – The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame (IGHOF) held its 10th annual Induction Ceremony on Friday, April 28, 2006. The black-tie event—in which four legends of gymnastics possessing 67 world and Olympic medals were formally inducted into the Hall of Fame—was held in Oklahoma City, OK, USA.

The IGHOF Class of 2006 included Olympic champions Vladimir Artemov (Russia), Eizo Kenmotsu (Japan), Natalia Kuchinskaya (Russia) and Shannon Miller (USA). Germany’s Ulrich Spieth, who has been managing director of the Spieth equipment company since 1971, received the IGHOF International Order of Merit.

A highlight of the Induction Ceremonies was the presentation of an exquisite music box and the World Championship silver medal from Mr. Jack Gunthard (IGHOF Class of 1997).  Mr. Gunthard is one of the rarest of individual honorees in the Hall, having been inducted by virtue of his qualifications in both of the required categories: as a World and Olympic medalist and for his lifetime achievements in gymnastics.

The medal and the music box were presented to the Hall on behalf of Mr. Gunthard by Noelle Frey, representing the Swiss Gymnastics Federation.

The 10th annual induction ceremony was the largest in history, and excitement ran high with the inclusion of Oklahoman Shannon Miller, who was raised in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond.

“I feel very honored to be among so many tremendous athletes that have been inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame,” Miller said. “And the fact that I got to come home to Oklahoma, the state that stood by me throughout all the highs and the lows of my career, made this event incredibly special.”

The Induction Ceremony was the centerpiece of a week-long celebration of gymnastics in Oklahoma City.  Kicking off the festivities was an advance screening for 1,000 local gymnasts of Disney/Touchstone Picture’s gymnastics comedy “Stick It” at Harkins Bricktown Cinemas. More than 1,100 gymnasts from around the nation took part in two competitions over the weekend at the Cox Convention Center:  the 2006 USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic Women’s National Championships, and the 5th Annual International Gymnastics Hall of Fame Age-Group Classic.

About the IGHOF Class of 2006

Vladimir Artemov (born Dec. 7, 1964, Vladimir, Soviet Union) – The prestigious career of Vladimir Artemov includes a combined total of 18 world and Olympic medals—10 of them gold—from 1983 to 1989. Artemov’s crowning achievement came at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, where he won four gold medals (team, all-around, parallel bars and high bar) and one silver medal (floor exercise). Known for his outstanding technique on parallel bars, he won the world title on that event three times (1983, 1987, and 1989). Artemov, appropriately born in the Russian town of Vladimir, finished second in the all-around at the 1985 World Championships and 3rd in the all-around at the 1987 World Championships. Artemov is now the head coach at Brown’s Gymnastics in San Antonio, Texas.

Eizo Kenmotsu (born February 13, 1948, Japan)  - Kenmotsu was a member of the legendary Japanese school of gymnastics that dominated the sport in the 1960s and 1970s. His lengthy career spanned a decade, and he was a member of the gold-medal winning Japanese team at three Olympics (1968, 1972 and 1976) and three world championships (1970, 1974 and 1978). Individually Kenmotsu won world championship gold medals in the all-around and high bar (1970) and on the parallel bars (1974 and 1978). He has an incredible 23 world and Olympic medals to his credit, 10 golds, seven silvers, and six bronzes. Since he retired he has been one of Japan’s top coaches, and his pupil, Hisashi Mizutori, finished second in the all-around at the last world championships. He is currently the chief director of Nippon Sports Science University Sports Clubs and a vice president of the Japan Gymnastics Association.

Natalia Kuchinskaya (born March 12, 1949, Leningrad, Soviet Union) – A gymnast known for her grace and charm, Natalia Kuchinskaya won 10 world and Olympic medals. At her first major international competition, the 1966 World Championships, she won three individual gold medals (uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise). At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, she won gold medals with the Soviet team and on the balance beam event, and a bronze medals in the all-around and on floor exercise. Dubbed “the Bride of Mexico” at those Olympic Games, she became an audience favorite of the Mexican crowd, and fans serenaded her with a song “Natalie” during her stay. Kuchinskaya was also the Soviet all-around champion on four consecutive occasions (1965-1968). Kuchinskaya emigrated to the United States in the early 1990s and now coaches at her own gym, International Gymnastics, in Mount Prospect, Ill. She has been married to Alexander Kotliar, an optician, for three decades.

Shannon Miller (March 10, 1977, Rolla, Mo.) - With seven Olympic and nine World Championships medals in her collection, Miller is the most-decorated gymnast in U.S. history. Miller moved to Edmond at a young age and trained at Dynamo Gymnastics in Oklahoma City under Steve Nunno and Peggy Liddick. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the 15-year-old Miller won five medals, including the silver medal in the all-around. She earned all-around national titles in 1993 and 1996 and world all-around titles in 1993 and 1994. She also won world titles on the uneven bars and floor exercise (1993) and on the balance beam (1994). She struck Olympic gold twice in 1996, as a member of the U.S. team and individually on the balance beam. Miller now attends law school in Boston and has expressed interest in returning to Oklahoma and entering politics. She remains active in gymnastics as a commentator, and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2005.