Zinaida Voronina

Who is Zinaida Voronina?

Zinaida Voronina, born Zinaida Borisovna Druzhinina, was a Soviet gymnast who competed at the European, World, and Olympic level from the mid-1960s to early 1970s.

Voronina's major debut came at the 1966 World Championships in Dortmund, Germany. There she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise, receiving the highest individual score of any gymnast at those games.

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.

Around the time of the 1968 games, she married Olympic gymnast Mikhail Voronin. 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.

The same year she retired and started working as a gymnastics coach together with her husband. Saddled with her professional life and a difficult childhood she struggled with alcoholism. In 1980, she was divorced from her husband, who received custody of their son. She spent the remainder of her years working in a factory in Balashikha, Russia, dying in March 2001 at the age of 53.