Elena Mukhina: Profiles in Olympic Courage

This is the second in a two-video series made in honor of the Olympics. In each video, I profile an athlete who defines what the Olympics has come to mean for me. The first episode highlighted the inspirational story of American middle distance runner, Glenn Cunningham. In this episode, I highlight the remarkable, tragic story of Russian gymnast, Yelena Muhkina. Notes: There are several tributes and highlight videos of Muhkina on YouTube. The best of these are Soviet-produced (one, a documentary of her training along with the National Team; another, detailing her career and death.) and these are narrated in Russian. Special thanks to the late Dr. John Cable, President Emeritus, Mount Senario College, whose expertise in Russian studies was motivation for my learning and investigating Yelena’s story. One reason I wanted to tell this story was because I could not find an accurate, detailed account of her remarkable story in English. Her 1978 World Championship is highlighted in the ABC Sports feature,