Valentin Muratov

Valentin Ivanovich Muratov, born on 30 July 1928, was a Soviet gymnast and later a gymnastics coach. He competed at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics in the full artistic gymnastics programme and won four gold medals and one silver medal. At the 1954 world championships he won four golds, sharing the all-around title with Viktor Chukarin and the floor title with Masao Takemoto. His father worked at a Moscow munitions factory and went missing in action in 1942, after which Valentin took his place in the factory to support his mother before being introduced to gymnastics at school. He married the Olympic gymnast Sofia Muratova in 1951, and after injuries ended his career in 1958 he coached, serving as head coach of the Soviet team from 1960 to 1968. He died on 6 October 2006.