On the birthday of ZMS Russia Svetlana Vasilievna Khorkina - “Legends of Russian artistic gymnastics. Svetlana Khorkina and Oleg Kochnov: family and interesting facts Svetlana Khorkina achievements

Olympic champion, world famous gymnast - Svetlana Khorkina. She was born in Belgorod on January 19, 1979 in a family of ordinary workers, her father was a simple worker, and her mother was a nurse. There are two children in the family, Svetlana’s closest friend can be considered her mother, they share everything with each other and even the most intimate secrets. Beauty, charm, artistry, everything comes from the mother, but perseverance and hard work from the father.
As a child, Svetlana was crazy, running around with the boys through the streets from morning to night, since her parents were at work all the time. But as they say, every evil without a good, Svetlana fell ill, and then the doctors advised her to take up sports, so little Sveta began doing gymnastics. Svetlana’s success was immediately noticed and her coach, to whom she is very grateful, B. Pilkin, began training the little girl to become an Olympic champion. At youth competitions, Sveta had no equal, but that was not the limit. She felt truly grown up when she was given an offer that she could not refuse to join the Soviet Union national team, and she was only 12 years old. A new stage in Sveta’s life has begun. The worries began, even more responsibility appeared before her parents, coach, city, country, then she realized that she no longer belonged to herself. But in those years, Sveta did not forget about herself, she calmly communicated with friends, met young people, and generally behaved like an ordinary girl. Svetlana is not often at home with her parents, but she is always so worried about her family and friends, despite the fact that Sveta is a very strong and purposeful person, she is still a beautiful and interesting woman. When you look at this fragile girl, you won’t even think that she has a whole era of artistic gymnastics behind her. Three-time absolute world champion and multiple Olympic champion, vice-president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation Svetlana Khorkina blew up the sports world with another victory. Victory in your personal life. She became a mother. According to the gymnast, the happiness of this victory is more valuable to her than all previously won ones. She is called a clone of Uma Thurman, capable of attacking anyone who encroaches on the assessment and analysis of her performance. And in response she just smiles sweetly and says: “I became a mother, and this is above all awards.” After the birth of the child, Svetlana truly became calmer and more reasonable, she felt like a mother. Sveta gave birth to a child in one of the clinics in Los Angeles. Khorkina's son will be a US citizen. According to American laws, any child born in this country becomes one. However, upon reaching adulthood, the young man will be able to choose Russian citizenship. - Sveta, today is sport only sport or politics too? How do athletes’ successes depend on the situation in world politics? - It's all together. If we take artistic gymnastics, we must admit that we are always judged, forced out, and not given freedom in terms of refereeing. Although the strength and victories are obvious. The last Olympics confirmed this once again. - Were you sued? - Yes, in all-around. The all-around competition is 4 events, where the number of points is summed up and the winner is revealed. After the first round, they didn’t give me a score for about 15 minutes. At least they would have been embarrassed to judge me right away. The fraud was obvious. There was practically no difference between how I and the American Carly Patterson performed. But I’m from Russia, and she’s from the USA, that’s the whole answer. - The American press accused you of slandering judges. Say, you accused them of stupidity, bias and bribery? “I’m not the only one who blamed them for this.” - It's a shame, perhaps? Or were you ready for such a turn?
- It’s no longer offensive, I’m used to this kind of attitude towards our athletes. Victories were always given to me with blood, I literally snatched them out. - You are among the ten most attractive gymnasts in the world, according to one American magazine. - I read that I became fifth in the list of owners of beautiful legs among gymnasts. But this is not a sporting achievement. Yes, by and large, I don’t care whose legs are there. It would be better for Americans to take a closer look at the professional qualities of athletes. - What should a potential gymnast candidate have? - There must be an appropriate body structure, a twinkle in the eyes. - Did you also have the listed qualities? - No. I was the complete opposite of all these requirements. But I had a great coach. I was tall, and my height was suitable for rhythmic gymnastics, but not for sports. They told me that I would break down and not be able to withstand the stress. They say I’m tall and fragile, I have little strength. To be honest, I really had little strength. My mother sent me to gymnastics because I was an active, nimble, playful girl, but I often suffered from acute respiratory infections.
- Tell me, can you “make” a champion out of any child? - We need to give everyone a chance to practice and try. - Sveta, since you gave birth, has your lifestyle and daily routine changed? - Yes, I stopped working (laughs). I have worked all my life and I don’t understand how you can live without working. But now my child compensates for all this. - What is your boy's name? - Svyatoslav. Although initially there were three variants of the name - Svyatoslav, Vyacheslav and Stanislav. I believe that whatever you name your child, that’s how he will go through life. They named me Svetlana because I was born fair. Thank God, my present is bright, I hope my future will be like that too. - You are so small and fragile, and the child was born, let’s say, not small. - I swam in the pool and walked until the last day. I ate everything healthy. I'm not a vegetarian. She ate cottage cheese and fermented milk products, fish, and added vitamins to her food. - Who helps you? - All by myself, but my mother comes for the weekend. - Are you coping? - Certainly! You know, it's such a thrill to tinker with a child. When you bathe him, change his diapers, feed him, when you see him every second. He is completely different all the time. I'm just blown away by the very thought that I'm a mother. - What are you dreaming about? - You won't believe it. I dream that I am training in the gym. My friends tell me that I am subconsciously preparing myself to return to sports. But I do not want! - Categorically? - Categorically. Now I will live only for the child and myself. - And when he grows up, will you return to sports? - No, I’m giving birth to a second one. And so on until the passion for gymnastics finally fades away (laughs). I always told myself that if I didn’t give birth to a child, I would never leave the sport. After all, before the birth of a child, sport was the only meaning of life for me. But I gave birth, and therefore goodbye, all the apparatus and the Olympics. I was in professional sports for many years and always prayed to God to give me a child.
This is great happiness! You know, before the baby was born, I was in Karelia on business, and there they showed me a tree with an ear cut out of it. So, I had to whisper my wish into this ear, and, as the locals assured me, it would certainly come true. Naturally, I wished that someday I would become a mother. The ear heard me and conveyed my desire to heaven! - Sveta, who is the father of the child? - Naturally, in the process of conceiving a child, the presence of a man is necessary. My child has a father, but I don’t want to make his name public. - The press attributed paternity to the husband of Vera Glagoleva and actor Levani Uchanishvili... - So what, two at once (laughs)? You know, the yellow press sometimes writes things that make you wonder. The case with paternity is from the same category. Levani and I are great friends, he is a very good person. - What surname will your son have? - Khorkin. - What about your middle name? - I'll tell you about this later. - Tell me, are you married? - Of course not. - Are you going to? - You know, man proposes, but God disposes. I am a believer and I will say this: everything is God’s will. - Sveta, was there some event that preceded the desire to have a child? - I understood that I was already getting old. I read various literature where it was written that it is advisable for a woman to give birth to children before the age of 30. And since I want more children, I need to do it before I turn 30.
- Will you give birth to a second child from the same man as the first? - First you need to conceive a child (laughs). Don't know. Maybe from the same thing, or maybe from another. - Sveta, who are your parents? - Father Vasily Vasilyevich is a calibration operator at the enterprise. Mom Lyubov Alekseevna is a nurse of the first category, works in a kindergarten. She treats vision for preschool children. My sister is finishing her fifth year at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports at Belgorod University. She holds the title of Master of Sports in gymnastics. - Will you initiate your son into professional sports? - Probably not. Perhaps for general development. Like all women, Sveta loves to dress well and look fashionable at social events, so when she often travels around the world, she tries to buy branded clothes. “I love unique things that immediately attract attention at social events,” says Sveta. After all, I am a young, beautiful, unmarried woman, so I should always look great. I was recently in Italy and decided to go shopping, but I couldn’t find anything interesting. Everything looked somehow expressionless on me. And I returned to Moscow with just one skinny suitcase. True, the beauty of Italian landscapes, in contrast to fashion stores, impressed me and reconciled me with Italian reality. I was also shown from a distance the villa of Andrei Shevchenko, whom we, however, are not yet familiar with. However, I think we will still meet sooner or later at some sporting event. Svetlana has many favorite branded clothes, for example: DSquared2, D&G, GF Ferre, Chanel. Now Svetlana is actively engaged in her book, she is writing an autobiography and her mother helps her a lot with this. This is a book about big sport, how it breaks people, how it can be unfair and how the system fails. In 2004, Svetlana Khorkina applied for the position of president of the Artistic Gymnastics Federation, but did not get literally 6 votes, and Yuri Titov became president, in turn, he invited her to become vice president. The great gymnast Svetlana Khorkina fell off the uneven bars, thereby losing her 13th gold medal, no matter how annoying it may sound, but it happened like that, she fell, got up and left the program without waiting for her grades. Khorkina left big sport, leaving the podium of the queen of artistic gymnastics empty. She left without saying a word, without shedding a single tear.
Now the main thing for Sveta is life after big sport. The ordinary human life of a beautiful woman who dreams of a husband, a home and raising a son. She opened her own gymnastics school to teach athletes to combine technique and artistry, which, no matter how hard they tried, the Americans never achieved. The school is already functioning, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin even came there for a visit, he was taken around the entire sports complex, he even talked with the young Olympians. 2008

She is not only a famous gymnast. Svetlana Khorkina is also a television journalist, politician, book author, actor, shooter, scientist, officer, singer and outspoken fashion model. Doesn't sound very plausible? However, all this is true. Read an article about the life of an outstanding athlete - an athlete about whom films began to be made!

Gymnastics - from four years old

Nothing foreshadowed such an extraordinary fate. Svetlana was born on January 19, 1979 in the family of a worker and a nurse, in quiet Belgorod. At the age of four, the girl became seriously ill, and to improve her health she was sent to the gymnastics section. In youth competitions, Sveta invariably took first place, and at the age of thirteen she became a member of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team. At seventeen, Khorkina was already waiting - Atlanta!

Success

After the failure at the 1992 Olympics, our gymnasts desperately needed medals! Svetlana became a medalist in both the team all-around and the uneven bars competition. From that time on, parallel bars became Khorkina’s “horse,” although at first they doubted this success. Why?

Before Khorkina, uneven bars competitions were the realm of Chinese women. It was believed that only girls 150 centimeters tall could count on winning here. Are there many Russian athletes with such dimensions? Svetlana, with her 164 centimeters, seemed like a giant against this background. At first, the coach didn’t want to practice parallel bars with her! The girl was saved by her hard work and amazing stubbornness. It ended with the two of them and their coach developing innovative techniques for “tall” gymnasts. Svetlana’s original numbers amazed the audience: the girl managed to turn her weaknesses into strengths.

In Atlanta (1996), she won gold for her performances on the uneven bars and silver in the team all-around. Khorkina had been the Russian champion since 1993, the European champion since 1994. And there were two more Olympics ahead: Sydney and Athens.

In total, Svetlana had seven Olympic medals, and two of them were gold. Khorkina became world champion nine times and European champion thirteen times. Her successes in performances on the uneven bars became especially significant: there was not a year without gold medals. Svetlana deservedly began to be called the “Queen of the parallel bars.”

And sorrows

Khorkina's path to victory was not paved with roses. The artistic, talented and amazingly efficient gymnast still had weaknesses. Svetlana is an emotional and vulnerable person. Failures, and especially injustice, easily infuriated the girl. The scandal with the jumping horse at the Sydney Olympics became very famous. Contrary to the rules, the horse was lowered by 5 centimeters due to someone's negligence or malicious intent. The girl tried to object, but her complaint was ignored. Because of her lowered horse, Anastasia jumped poorly. Then the jump was allowed to be repeated, but the athlete was so upset that she “failed” part of the performance and left in tears. She had to give interviews to journalists wearing dark glasses so that TV viewers would not see red eyes.

Svetlana turned out to be an unusually “long-lived” athlete. During the Sydney Games she was already 21 years old - a very respectable age for gymnasts. Khorkina went to Athens at the age of 25. It seemed like this was the limit! Svetlana managed to win silver and bronze here, but she failed the competition on her favorite uneven bars.

After the Olympics in Athens, Svetlana Khorkina announced the end of her sports career.

Is there life after sports?

After leaving sports, Khorkina’s life became even more eventful and interesting. The multiple champion remained a celebrity. At the same time, the young woman had the opportunity to take care of her personal life and arrange her female happiness.

However, not everything was smooth here at first. Although a year after the official end of her career, in 2005, she became a mother, Khorkina carefully concealed who the father of her son Svyatoslav was, repeatedly declaring that she gave birth to a child “for herself.” For some time, many thought that Khorkin would become a couple - Kirill Shubsky, who was credited with paternity thanks to Svetlana’s autobiographical book “Somersault in Heels,” did not divorce his wife (Vera Glagoleva), so Khorkina’s personal life still remained a secret.

And only 6 years later the athlete decided to stop hiding. In 2011, at the Russian Association of Stuntmen, Svetlana Khorkina made her first official appearance with her husband, FSB General Oleg Kochnov.

In the photo: Svetlana Khorkina with her husband Oleg Kochnov

Svetlana knows how to manage time. She has a rule: get up at exactly seven o'clock every day, even if it is a holiday or a day off. This is probably why the former athlete managed to successfully perform in many roles.

Like many other honored athletes, Svetlana actively takes part in the social and political life of the country.

She was elected as a State Duma deputy from the United Russia party, a member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, and vice-president of the Artistic Gymnastics Federation. In addition, Khorkina successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis and also received the military rank of captain (since she played for the CSK Air Force). Now she dreams of becoming a major and has an unusual hobby for a figure skater - shooting with military weapons.

The Olympic champion wrote books on gymnastics (“Somersault in heels” and “Gymnastics for body and soul”) and published a disc with her songs, for some time she was the host of the TV show “Home.” Svetlana also tried herself on stage: in the play “ Venus" Theater named after. Mossovet she managed to successfully play the main role. In her youth, Khorkina agreed to appear in a very explicit manner for Playboy magazine.

These are the different facets of the personality of the gymnast, whose performances constituted a glorious page in our sport.

Svetlana Khorkina is one of the main characters in the recently filmed film “Champions: Faster. Higher. Stronger". The role of Khorkina was played by Christina Asmus, who herself was a former gymnast and is now a successful actress and young mother. A sports background, diet and self-discipline are the main secrets: she looks incredibly organic in the role of the slender Khorkina - the trailer for the film convincingly proves this.

The film "Champions: Faster. Higher. Stronger" will be released in February 2016.

In 1992, she became a member of the Russian artistic gymnastics team.

Svetlana Khorkina achieved her first major success at the 1994 World Championships, winning a silver medal. The following year, at the European Championships, she won one silver and two bronze medals, and then became the champion of the 1995 world championship.

At the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, Khorkina became first on the uneven bars and second in the all-around. The 2000 Olympics in Sydney again brought the athlete gold on the uneven bars, as well as silver in the floor exercise.

From 1995 to 2001, she became the first in all competitions held on uneven bars. Many of the elements performed by Khorkina on the uneven bars were complex and invented specifically for her due to her high stature, which is not typical for gymnasts.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Khorkina won a silver medal in the all-around and became the second gymnast in history to win three Olympic Games.

At the end of August 2004, Khorkina announced her retirement from her sports career.

On December 21, 2004, Khorkina took the post of vice-president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation (FSGR).

Svetlana Khorkina is a two-time Olympic champion in parallel bars, three-time absolute world champion and three-time absolute European champion. Absolute champion of Russia (1993, 1995, 1997). Multiple champion of Russia in vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. Winner of the Russian Cup in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 in all-around. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. She was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree, the Order of Honor and Friendship, and the Honorary Badge of Sports Glory of Russia.

In 2007, a monument was erected in Belgorod in honor of Svetlana Khorkina. Svetlana has a son, Svyatoslav (born July 21, 2005). According to media reports, in May 2011 she married FSB General Oleg Kochnov.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources.

First deputy head of the CSKA sports club. Colonel.
Acting State Advisor of the Russian Federation, 3rd class.
Referent of the Control Department of the President of the Russian Federation.
Gymnast. Honored Master of Sports of Russia. Two-time Olympic champion.
Nine-time world champion. Thirteen-time European Championship champion.

Svetlana Khorkina was born on January 19, 1979 in the city of Belgorod. The girl’s parents were immigrants from Mordovia. The family came to Belgorod to work, but stayed for a long time. Dad worked as a builder, mom got a job as a nurse in a kindergarten.

Sveta started playing sports in 1983. At first she trained under the guidance of Boris Vasilyevich Pilkin. Since 1992, she has been a member of the Russian Federation national artistic gymnastics team.

Svetlana Khorkina achieved her first major success at the 1994 World Championships, winning a silver medal. The following year, at the European Championships, she won one silver and two bronze medals, and then became the champion of the 1995 world championship.

Since 1995, for six years, she became the first in all competitions held on uneven bars. Many of the elements performed by Khorkina on the uneven bars are complex and were invented specifically for her due to her high stature, which is not typical for gymnasts.

At the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, she became first on the uneven bars and second in the all-around. Four years later, at the Olympics in Sydney, the athlete again won gold on the uneven bars, as well as silver in the floor exercise. At the next Olympics in Athens, in 2004, Khorkina won a silver medal in the all-around and became the second gymnast in history to win three Olympic Games.

The champion announced her retirement from her sports career in the fall of 2004. In December of the same year, she took the post of vice-president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation. After leaving sports, she actively participated in various television projects.

Svetlana Khorkina is a candidate of pedagogical sciences, having defended her dissertation on the topic “Study of sports and gymnastic exercises using linear-didactic programming.” Graduated from the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation.

From 2007 to 2011 she was a deputy of the State Duma of Russia of the 5th convocation. In October 2012, she received the position of assistant in the Control Directorate of the President of Russia.

In September 2015, Svetlana Khorkina visited Sakhalin to open the sports departments of the specialized children's and youth sports school of the CSKA Olympic reserve. During the trip, she conducted a number of master classes for Sakhalin residents. During my few days on the island, I became imbued with a love for nature and the quiet, peaceful life of the islanders. In November 2015, she again visited the Sakhalin region, also to open the sports departments of the Sports School of Sports and Youth Sports School of CSKA.

In September 2016, Khorkina became a confidant of the All-Russian political party “United Russia” in the elections to the State Duma of the 7th convocation.

By decision of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation in February 2016, she was appointed first deputy head of CSKA. Svetlana Vasilievna is also the vice-president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation. Member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture of the Russian Orthodox Church. Khorkina’s personal star was unveiled on February 25, 2017 on the Olympic Walk of Fame at the Rosa Khutor resort in Sochi. In 2018, he was awarded the next rank of “Colonel”.

Svetlana Khorkina Awards

Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (February 18, 2006) - for great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports and high sporting achievements

Order of Honor (April 19, 2001) - for his great contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high sporting achievements at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000 in Sydney

Order of Friendship (January 6, 1997) - for services to the state and high sporting achievements at the XXVI Summer Olympic Games in 1996

Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" (Ministry of Defense) III degree

Medal "Participant of the military operation in Syria"

Medal "200 years of the Ministry of Defense"

Medal "100 Years of the Air Force"

Medal of Nikolai Ozerov

Certificate of Honor from the President of Russia (2017)

Title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Belgorod” (July 22, 2003) - for outstanding achievements in sports, great personal contribution to the development of the physical culture and sports movement of the city of Belgorod,

Badge of honor (order) “Sporting Glory of Russia” (editorial office of the newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda” and the board of the Russian Olympic Committee, November 2002)

Laureate of the National Award for Public Recognition of Women's Achievements "Olympia" of the Russian Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship in 2005

The personal star of Svetlana Khorkina was unveiled on February 25, 2017 on the Olympic Walk of Fame at the Rosa Khutor resort (Sochi)

Sports Achievements of Svetlana Khorkina

Honored Trainer of Russia Boris Vasilyevich Pilkin formulated the formula for Svetlana Khorkina’s success as follows: “Success lies in the rule of the “four Ts” - patience, hard work, creativity and talent!”

Svetlana Khorkina was born on January 19, 1979 in Belgorod into a family of ordinary workers. Father Vasily Vasilyevich Khorkin is a worker, and mother Lyubov Alekseevna is a nurse. Her parents lived near Saransk (Mordovia). Their family has two daughters - Svetlana and Yulia, both titled artistic gymnasts. According to Svetlana: “Beauty, charm, artistry – everything comes from my mother, but perseverance and hard work come from my father.” In early childhood she was a very active girl, a kind of daredevil. To improve the health of 4-year-old Svetlana, her mother brought her to the Spartak Sports Palace in the gymnastics section.

Svetlana’s permanent coach was Honored Coach of Russia Boris Vasilievich Pilkin, the author of a unique coaching methodology and many gymnastic elements, the founder of the Belgorod gymnastics school. “For me, Boris Vasilyevich Pilkin is a beloved mentor, a fair teacher and a fighting friend. We went through three Olympics with him, many world, European, and Russian championships. He was a great man and a brilliant coach. The elements that now bear Khorkina’s name were invented by Pilkin - can you imagine, he dreamed of them!” – Svetlana Vasilievna speaks so gratefully about her coach. They spent 20 years together, from 1984 to 2004. During this time, Svetlana Khorkina managed to win many awards, including the highest, and get into the Guinness Book of Records.

In those years, in gymnastics, a peculiar stereotype of an athlete’s build developed: short, with short, muscular legs. Svetlana was head and shoulders above her peers. The coaches who looked after young gymnasts for their groups showed no interest in her and stated that there was no point in doing such a “kalanche” on the platform. It was his wife, Anna Ivanovna Pilkina, an honored coach of Russia, an international judge, a master of sports in artistic gymnastics, who also worked as a coach at a sports school, who took Boris Vasilyevich Pilkin into his group to persuade him to take a lanky, awkward 5-year-old girl into his group.

Svetlana trained with such zeal that she literally took the equipment by storm. The girl impressed the experienced 55-year-old coach with her hard work and perseverance. Boris Vasilyevich liked this approach to training. Young Sveta loved to win, to be first always and everywhere. He believed in her. “Such girls are born once every hundred years,” they told him later. Boris Vasilyevich developed a unique training system for tall girls. “Sveta, since you have long legs, they should not hinder you, but help you. We will turn your shortcomings into advantages. You will get a very beautiful line, a long range of movements and flight. And I know how to achieve this. Bars are the most difficult apparatus for your growth. But you and I will make sure that the uneven bars become your trump card,” said her mentor.

And very soon the time came when it was possible. Pilkin did not force events. He carefully led the student from one complex element to the next. I tried to turn training into an exciting game, during which I learned the “basics” of artistic gymnastics. She sincerely and selflessly fell in love with gymnastics, and her youth and passion, the desire to do something unique, unknown in gymnastics, gave her the strength to selflessly train and master new elements. They, together with their coach, believed in the dream of winning Olympic gold.

Svetlana later spoke about the caring, fatherly attitude of the coach, about her life and path to Olympus in the book “Somersaults in Heels.”

With each new sports season, her skill grew. At the age of 11, she successfully performed at the all-Union tournament, called “Komsomolskaya Pravda” in the gymnastics world, after which she was included in the country’s youth team. At youth competitions, Sveta had no equal. As the winner of the USSR championship among juniors in 1991, she was included in the country’s sports delegation in 1992 to participate in the annual traditional “show of champions” - a commercial trip to cities

France - along with world and Olympic champions Yuri Korolev, Valentin Mogilny, Olga Bicherova. After her performance on the beam, enthusiastic spectators called Sveta for an encore several times. In the same year, for the first time as a member of the national team, she participated in a training camp, friendly matches and exhibition performances in the United States, and she, as a promising gymnast, competed in the Moscow News competition, which was held in Moscow before the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona . After 1993, Svetlana became the absolute champion of Russia four times, and repeatedly won certain all-around events at the Russian Championship and in competitions for the Russian Cup.

At the age of 14, she was awarded the honorary title of Honored 4th Master of Sports of Russia. Khorkina's first successes at international tournaments came in 1994–1995. She won her first adult international awards in 1994 at the World Championships in Brisbane (Australia): the athlete received a silver medal each for vault and uneven bars, and these medals were the only ones in the Russian team’s collection. The European Championships in Stockholm (Sweden) became even more successful in 1994 - silver and gold (on uneven bars) were won, and success as part of the Russian team at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg and the World Team Championship in Dortmund (Germany) ) ended with recognition of her leadership in world gymnastics.

In 1995, in the Japanese city of Sabayo, she first became the world champion on uneven bars and the silver medalist of the all-around championship.

Khorkina and her coach constantly surprised sports fans on all continents with their unique programs and compositions, and innovative research. The period from the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, America, to the 2004 Olympics in the Greek capital of Athens can rightfully be called the “era of Khorkina and Pilkin” in world artistic gymnastics.

At her first Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, Svetlana won a gold medal in the uneven bars exercise. There, in Atlanta, a desperate struggle unfolded in team competitions. In addition to Svetlana, Olympic champion in Barcelona (1992) Rozalia Galieva, Evgenia Kuznetsova, Oksana Lyapina, Honored Master of Sports of Russia Elena Grosheva, three-time Russian champion Elena Dolgopolova, two-time world champion Dina Kochetkova played for the Russian women's team. The gymnasts of the Russian team showed good results. The American competitors, inspired by the support of the audience and the presence of US President Bill Clinton at the competition, as well as taking into account the bias of the judges, showed results that significantly exceeded the quality of their performances and became Olympic champions. The Russian team took 2nd place in the team competition.

The enormous tension in the team competition led to an inevitable decline in the individual competitions. In team wrestling, Svetlana fell off her favorite apparatus - the uneven bars - on the very element that she had successfully tested the day before in Russia. After the “stallder” with a 360-degree turn, Shaposhnikova’s flight followed with a 180-degree turn from the bottom pole to the top one. This is a fairly famous flight, which was seriously complicated by the coach. Today this element is considered one of the most valuable in terms of difficulty of execution and is especially popular among gymnasts from around the world. In the individual competition, Khorkina brilliantly performed her most difficult combination on the uneven bars and became an Olympic champion. The press later wrote: “You need to have remarkable psychological stability and great willpower so that in a day you don’t leave anyone a chance to win on the same apparatus.”

In 1996, Svetlana graduated from high school as an external student and entered the sports department at Belgorod University.

At the World Championships in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1997, Svetlana demonstrated the perfection of her skills. In the team competition, the team took 2nd place, and Svetlana won the right to compete in the overall championship. It was her fate to start the competition with an exercise on the balance beam. She introduced her signature element to this exercise - a 360-degree flap, which she performed first in the world. She did everything else well, although she was not the first in terms of results. Floor exercises were performed with the author's jumping element. The gap from the leaders was quite acceptable. She clearly performed her signature jump - 4101 and was in 3rd position. After a stellar performance on the uneven bars, earning a perfect score, she won her first overall world title. Then she also won gold on uneven bars, silver on balance beam and bronze on floor exercise.

Over the next 2 years after winning the World Championship, Svetlana's skills became technically perfect, with rare exceptions. She introduced new complex elements on all apparatuses, especially on the uneven bars and beam. For the first time in history, Khorkina won 5 gold medals in a row at the World Championships and 2 gold medals at the Olympic Games and was recognized as the most successful gymnast. In 2001, Svetlana Khorkina and Michael Schumacher were recognized by the European Union of Sports Journalists as the best athletes on the continent. For performing the most difficult combinations on the uneven bars, she was awarded the unofficial title “Queen of the Uneven Bars.” From 1995 to 2001, she was the winner of all competitions held on uneven bars.

Khorkina again began the Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) as a favorite in the all-around. In the team championship, she performed a very difficult and again personal jump, which no one had seen before; it was later named Khorkina-II. She also performed well on floor exercise and uneven bars, qualifying for the finals. The rest of the team was successful in the preliminary competition, easily defeating the Romanian team.

For the second Olympics in a row, her team won only silver. When the all-around competition began, it turned out that the jumping horse was set 5 centimeters lower than necessary. Because of this, some gymnasts made uncharacteristic mistakes when performing a jump and were injured. Khorkina also made a mistake when performing her first jump, and then she herself admitted that she did not understand why this happened. Upset after this incident, Khorkina disrupts her uneven bars performances for the first time in a long time. Having finally discovered their mistake, the judges allow the victims to repeat the jumps, but the scores for other apparatus cannot be corrected. Khorkina refuses to repeat the jump, taking only 10th place, while saying: “This is the Olympic Games! And the organizers have no room for error for installing sports equipment! And I won’t jump over my attempt on the vault.”

She showed excellent results on the mat and beam and, if not for the vault, would have easily won gold in the all-around. In several interviews after the Olympics, Khorkina called this incident “a black spot in her soul and life.” In a tense struggle, Svetlana manages to retain the title of Olympic champion on uneven bars. She also won a silver medal, losing to Elena Zamolodchikova. Khorkina had the right to participate in the vault final, but gave it to Zamolodchikova. Although, I could have won a gold medal in this event too.

In 2002, Svetlana Vasilievna Khorkina defended her dissertation on the topic “Study of sports and gymnastic exercises using linear-didactic programming” for the degree of candidate of pedagogical sciences.

In the same year, Khorkina won the all-around at the European Championships.

At the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim (USA), she achieved unique success: she became the absolute champion for the third time, which no woman had ever achieved before.

At the Olympics in Athens (Greece) in 2004, the performance of the women's team was very uneven; the entire burden fell on the team captain, 25-year-old Svetlana Khorkina. Despite the accumulated fatigue, she won a silver medal in the all-around and became an Olympic medalist for the third time. And only thanks to her stable performance in the team championship, the team took 3rd place. The age difference among Khorkina’s teammates reached almost 10 years.

Svetlana Khorkina played in the Russian national team from 1991 to 2004. She continues to be a symbol and example of hard work, strength of character, the will to win, artistry and grace for all young athletes.

As a teenager, Svetlana was looking for a way to use her talent, her abilities, and her irrepressible energy besides sports. She continued this line after finishing her sports career. She tried herself in various fields of activity: writing, was a presenter on television, acted as a fashion model in magazines, and acted in the theater.

Thus, in 2005 she successfully made her debut on the theater stage in the play “VENUS”, staged by the famous actor and director Sergei Vinogradov, in which she played the main role. The production is dedicated to the love of the famous American writer Henry Miller and Hollywood star Brenda Venus.

She was also attracted to a political career. In 2007, Khorkina was elected to the State Duma of the fifth convocation and was deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Youth Affairs. Khorkina said about her work as a Duma deputy: “I try to develop and support the culture of sports in various regions of our country from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok and throughout the world. I conduct master classes with young athletes, coaches, and help people who are involved and passionate about sports in various ways.” While a deputy, she received a second higher education: she graduated from the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation. On October 6, 2012, she was appointed as an assistant in the Control Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation.

S. Khorkina is vice-president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation (2004), president of the Svetlana Khorkina Foundation. Since 2010 - member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture (Russian Orthodox Church).

Honored Master of Sports of Russia, two-time Olympic champion in uneven bars (1996, 2000), Olympic silver medalist in the team championship (1996, 2000), all-around (2004) and floor exercise (2000), Olympic bronze medalist in team championship (2004), absolute world champion (1997, 2001, 2003), world champion in uneven bars (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001), vault (2001), silver medalist at the World All-Around Championships (1995 ), in vault (1994), in exercises on uneven bars (1994), on balance beam (1997) and in the team championship (1997, 1999, 2001), bronze medalist of the World Championship in the team championship (1994) and in floor exercises (1999, 2001), absolute European champion (1999, 2000, 2002), European champion in uneven bars (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004), beam (2004), floor exercise (1998) and in the team championship (2000, 2002), silver medalist of the European Championship in the all-around (1994), in the balance beam (2002) and in the team championship (1994, 1996, 1998), bronze medalist of the European Championship in the team championship (2004) and in balance beam (2004), absolute champion of Russia (1993, 1995, 1997, 2003), Russian champion in vault (1994), uneven bars (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003) , balance beam (1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2004) and floor exercise (1994), silver medalist of the Russian Championship in all-around (1994, 1996, 1998, 1999), vault (1993, 1995, 2001), bronze medalist of the Russian Championship in floor exercise (1993, 1996, 1999, 2004), winner of the Russian Cup in all-around (1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004), in exercises on uneven bars (1997, 1998, 2000, 2003) and on balance beam ( 2000), silver medalist of the Russian Cup in the all-around (1994, 1999, 2003) and floor exercise (2003), bronze medalist of the Russian Cup in the all-around (1996, 2001), floor exercise (2002) and beam exercise (2003) .

She was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree, Honor, Friendship, and the honorary badge (order) “Sports Glory of Russia.” Laureate of the National Award for Public Recognition of Women's Achievements "Olympia". Has the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 2007 in Belgorod S.V. A full-length monument was erected to Khorkina, and a sports center named after her was built. She was awarded the title of honorary citizen of the city of Belgorod and the Belgorod region.