Vladimer Omarovich "Lado" Gogoladze (Georgian: ვლადიმერ ომარის ძე გოგოლაძე; Russian: Влади́мир Ома́рович Гогола́дзе; born 18 August 1966), is a retired Georgian gymnast who represented the Soviet Union at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
Gogoladze began competing at the elite level in 1985, at the age of 18,[1] taking silver medals in the all-around and high bar in the USSR Championships, and bronze medals at the European Championships in the all-around and parallel bars.[2]
He was a member of the Soviet "Dream Team" who won the team gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, and he is also known for being the first gymnast to perform a triple back on floor in the Olympics.[3] In the same year, he received the title Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.[4]
According to a report in Sovietsky Sport, Gogoladze and teammate Dmitri Bilozerchev were removed from the Soviet men's squad for the 1989 World Championships because of a two-day drinking binge.[5]
Gogoladze has two elements named after him. The first is a straddled Healy twirl on parallel bars. The second, on floor exercise, is a flair or circle to handstand, then continuing to flair or circle; this element is frequently performed and remains in the current Code of Points.[6]
Gogoladze now coaches at Gymnastics World in Ohio.
References
- ^ Anatoly Ivanov, Moscow News, No. 23, 1985
- ^ Georgian National Olympic Committee, date unknown, "[1]", accessed 27 August 2012
- ^ peoples.ru, date unknown, "[2]", accessed 23 August 2012
- ^ Georgian National Olympic Committee, ibid.
- ^ New York Times, 3 August 1989, "[3]", accessed 23 August 2012
- ^ Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, Code of Points, 2009 Edition, 42.
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