Elena Davydova

Head Coach & Owner

Gemini Gymnastics programs are led by Head Coach and Owner, Elena Davydova, 1980 Olympic All Around Gold Medal Champion. Her achievements as a gymnast, and impact as a coach at Gemini Gymnastics, have been outstanding.

Born in Voronege, Russia, Elena’s contributions as an athlete changed the sport of gymnastics forever. She was the first woman to complete a backward giant and a Tkatchev on the uneven bars, a front salto and a side somersault on the balance beam as well as a round-off backhand spring. On vault Elena invented the full twist-on, tucked front somersault off and on floor she was the first to perform a 1 1/2 twist, punch front combination, an Arabian 1 3/4 somersault, and a piked Arabian 1 3/4 somersault. In addition to edging out Nadia Comaneci at the 1980 Olympics for the all around title, she scored a perfect 10 on vault during the Team Competition. She won another Gold Medal at the 1981 World Gymnastics Championships.

Elena retired as an athlete to attend Leningrad University of Physical Education and later received her doctorate in Pedagogical Science at the P.F. Lesgaft State Institute of Athletic Education. Upon graduation, she joined the St. Petersburg Olympic Reserve as a coach for the Soviet National Gymnastics Team, and served as an International Brevet Judge (the highest international level of judging awarded by the F.I.G. ‘Fédération Internationale Gymnastique’ which is the governing body of gymnastics world wide ). Elena immigrated to Canada with her family in 1991 and began working at Gemini Gymnastics. After a successful competitive season with athlete Sarah Deegan, Gymnastics Canada awarded Elena the 1997 Senior High Performance Coach of the Year award. In 2005 as a judge she achieved the highest score of all Canadian Brevet judges on the International exam, and in June 2006 she received Brevet Coach status. Elena is the only Canadian to hold both Brevet Coach and Judge status for women’s artistic gymnastics. As of 2007 as a Brevet Coach, she is only 1 of 31 female coaches worldwide and the only Olympic AA champion to hold this title. In May 2007, Elena Davydova was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

2010 marked the 30th anniversary of Elena’s Olympic victory. She is considered one of the top 10 heroes of the Soviet Games in Moscow because she did the impossible – in the All Around competition, Elena beat the best world gymnast Romanian star Nadia Comaneci.

Elena Davydova and her coaching staff at Gemini have produced champions in all levels of competitive gymnastics including 15 Canadian AA Champions, 8 Elite Canada AA Champions, 21 Eastern Canadian AA Champions and 98 Provincial AA Champions.

Highlights for the 2011-2012 season include: