NATASHA KUCHINSKAYA Birthdate: 1949 Height: 5'2" Weight: 109 Ibs. Mother: Coach in Gymnastics Moderne Father: Volleyball coach Sister: Master of sports in Gymnastics Moderne, Marina Kuchinskaya, a gold team medal at the World Championships in Copenhagen. School: Leningrad University, department of Psychology Favorite Subjects: Literature, Psychology Began Gymnastics: 11 years Favorite Gymnast: P. Astakchova Favorite Personalities: Leo Tolstoi, writer; Sergei Esenin, poet; Valentine Tereshkova, Cosmonaut Favorite Music: Sheskakovitch, Stravinski, Gershwin Hobby: Reading, Classical ballet Aim in Life: To be useful to people
OUR NATASHA By Yuri Sabirov Mlle. G. contributor from USSR There are "born" gymnasts, whom nature has generously endowed with strength, agility, endurance, grace and body control. These athletes have little trouble and all they have to do is to improve on what nature has given them. Natasha Kuchinskaya is not one of them. Hers was an uphill road. Had she been weaker in spirit or loved gymnastics less we would perhaps have never heard of her. I can't say that she fell in love with gymnastics at first sight, nothing of the kind. 路18-