But she allowed the televisions around the world to deliver a new wave of sport. With her tiny physique and charm she made gymnastics look easy and fun, so easy that hundreds of girls went to try their luck in gymnasium around the world.
Born in May 16th, 1955 in Belarus, the youngest of 4 daughters, Olga was, as many other girls, noticed in school because of her energy and talent in the discipline that was taught in every elementary school: gymnastics.
By the age of 8 Olga had already earned a place in a gymnastics school; and in 1967 she was competing at her first National Championships. She was the most gold-medaled in the competition, even with the best young gymnasts fighting for a title.
In the first senior National Championships Olga presented her trade-mark moves - a back somersault on the Beam and a backflip to catch on the Uneven Bars. A lot of discussion over these two moves went on, as most of the judges thought those were skills of a circus artist and were damaging the image of gymnastics... and Olga returned with no medal back home.
In 1972 she gained a place for the Soviet Olympic squad. Becoming an overnight star due to her smile and grace, she was the baby champion of 72, winning three gold medals and something like pop star status.
She went from success to disaster, entered in the 1976 Olympics - there she was hard beaten by the romanian star Nadia Comaneci - and retired in 1977, and was invited to be the Belarussian head coach.
She got married, had a son, emigrated to the USA in 1991 and kept on with her life.
She now lives in Atlanta.