Maria Gorokhovskaya

Competing for Stroityel Kharkov, Gorokhovskaya won her first USSR title on the balance beam in 1948. She came to the Helsinki Olympics as the two-fold national champion. Soviet gymnastics had never competed at major international tournaments before, and it was the first Olympics in which the country participated.

The Soviet gymnasts dominated the competition, with Gorokhovskaya leading them. In all four individual apparatus events - the balance beam, floor exercise, the horse vault and the uneven bars - Gorokhovskaya finished second. This performance earned her the gold medal in the all-around competition, finishing ahead of team-mate Nina Bocharova[?] by eight tenths of a point.

With seven of the eight Soviet gymnasts finishing in the top ten, it was clear that the team gold medal would go to them. Gorokhovskaya won her seventh medal in the now discontinued team exercise with portable apparatus, where the Soviet team finished second behind Sweden.

Gorokhovskaya made one more international appearance as a part of the winning Soviet team at the 1954 World Championships, and retired afterwards.

In 1990, she emigrated to Israel.