Elvira Saadi

Elvira Saadi
— Gymnast —
Country represented  Soviet Union
Born (1952-01-02) January 2, 1952
Tashkent, U.S.S.R.
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
Retired Yes
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
1972 Munich Team
1976 Montreal Team

Elvira Fuadovna Saadi (born January 2, 1952 in Tashkent, U.S.S.R.) is a retired gymnast from the former Soviet Union who is now an elite gymnastics coach in Canada.[1]

As a member of the Soviet Union's women's gymnastics team, Saadi shared in the team gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.[1] She placed 8th in the all-around at the 1972 Olympics and 7th all-around at the 1976 Olympics.[2]

Saadi won the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise at the 1973 USSR national championships. That year, she tried for first on vault at the 1973 World University Games, where she also placed 3rd in the all-around.[2]

At the 1974 World Championships, she earned a share of the USSR team gold, placed fourth in the all-around and captured the bronze medal on floor exercise.[3]

Following the 1976 Olympics, Saadi accepted a coaching position at the Moscow Dynamo Club, where she was the coach of Soviet gymnast Tatiana Groshkova, who placed third all-around in the 1989 U.S.S.R. gymnastics championships and placed first all-around at the 1990 Trophee Massilia.[4]

Saadi relocated to Canada in 1991 to become a coach at the Canadian gym Cambridge Kips, where she trained Canadian Olympians Yvonne Tousek and Crystal Gilmore.[3][5]

In June 2011, Saadi announced plans to open her own club, Dynamo Gymnastics. The new club has begun operations on the premises of Revolution Gymnastics in Waterloo, where several top young gymnasts who left Cambridge Kips with Saadi trained.[5]

Dynamo Gymnastics opened in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada in 2011.[6] Saadi, opened the new club together with the parents of one of the up-and-coming gymnasts Victoria Moors who left Cambridge Kips with Saadi. Along with Victoria Moors was Madeline Gardiner. Both Gardiner and Moors went on to qualify for the Canadian London 2012 Olympic team. Moors competed as part of team Canada and helped to earn Canada 5th place over all - the best ranking of any Canadian Women's Artistic Gymnastics team ever at the Olympics. Gardiner was an alternate on the team but did not compete. Moor's was also the youngest Canadian Olympian competing at the age of 15.[7] Victoria went on to briefly hold the record for a Canadian Women's Artistic Gymnast at the World's in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2013 placing 10th for Canada. The previous best ranking for a Canadian was 14th. (That 10th-place ranking has since been beaten this past year by Halifax's Ellie Black (Moors' team mate at the London Olympics). Victoria also has two moves named after her one a dismount from the bars and the other a tumbling line on floor, which is the hardest ranking floor skill to date. Victoria retired at the age of 18 in the spring of 2015.[8] Dynamo with the leadership of Saadi continues to coach elite level athletes and has received numerous awards for their accomplishments.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Elvira Saadi". Sports Reference: Olympic Sports. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Jennifer Isbister (September 16, 2000). "Whatever Happened to Elvira Saadi?". Gymn.ca. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Honored Inductees, World & Olympic Medalists & Lifetime Achievement: Elvira Saadi - Uzbekistan". International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.gymn.ca/gymnasticgreats/wag/groshkova.htm
  5. 1 2 Bill Doucet (June 8, 2011). "Saadi resigns from Kips". Cambridge Times. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Saadi resigns from Kips". www.cambridgetimes.ca. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  7. ↑ "A gymnastics powerhouse raised in Cambridge". www.therecord.com. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  8. ↑ "Cambridge Olympic gymnast Victoria Moors retires". www.therecord.com. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  9. ↑ "About Us – Dynamo Gymnastics Cambridge". dynamogymnastics.ca. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
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