Natalia Shaposhnikova is a former Soviet artistic gymnast….who was a two-time Olympic champion….and Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR…..as she was known for her risky, original skills and expressive choreography….especially on balance beam and floor exercise. She was one of the world’s strongest gymnasts in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, especially on vault…..who was known for her difficulty and originality, especially her one-armed handstands on beam.
At the 1979 European Championships, she performed one of the first triple twists on floor….and her opening tumbling pass on floor at the 1980 Olympic Games was a roundoff 1.5-twisting layout immediately into a round-off back handspring double pike.
Shaposhnikova invented a complex transition skill on the uneven bars…..which was a clear hip circle on the low bar with flight backward to the high bar….and it is named after her in the Code of Points…..as the skill is sometimes referred to colloquially as the “Shaposh”…..which is still widely performed today.
