Name Olga Karasyova | Role Olympic athlete | |
Olga Karasyova, (born 24 July 1949) is a former Soviet gymnast who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics.
In 1994, Karasyova told German television she and her former team mates were forced to become pregnant shortly before the 1968 Olympics. This was due to the supposed physical benefits of pregnancy. Girls that did not have a boyfriend or husband were forced to have sex with their coach, and refusal would mean removal from the team. It was reported that after ten weeks, the girls were forced to have an abortion. While rumours of such practices with Soviet, Scandinavian and East-German girls had been around since the 1950s, no credible evidence was ever given until Karasyova's disclosure.
Olga was coached by Igor Zhuravlev at CSKA Moscow. She was married to fellow gymnast Valery Karasyov, and studied French at the Pedagogical Institute.