Polina Grigoryevna Astakhova (Russian:Полина Григорьевна Астахова) (b. October 30 1936 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR) was a Soviet/Ukrainian gymnast who won 10 medals (5 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 3 bronze medals) at the Summer Olympics, where she participated as a member of the USSR team in 1956, 1960 and 1964.

At age 13 she watched the gymnastics championships in Donetsk, a city, where their family moved a short time before. Since then she became interested in gymnastics. She trained in the gymnastics sports club Shakhtyor in Donetsk. Her trainer was the Honoured Trainer of the USSR Vladimir Aleksandrovich Smirnov.

In 1954 she participated in the USSR championship for the first time. In a year she was included to the USSR National team at the 1956 Summer Olympics. She earned a nickname The Russian Birch in Western countries and at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome she was even called Madonna by the Italian journalists. Between 1956 and 1966 she was on top of many international and national competitions especially on the Uneven Bars apparatus event.

After she finished her career she worked as the USSR State Trainer for Ukrainian SSR for some time. for some time. At present she lives in Kiev, Ukraine.

Awards

Olympic Games

• All Around Competition:1960 -bronze, 1964 -bronze
• Team Competition:1956 -gold, 1960 -gold, 1964 -gold
• Group Exercise:1956 -bronze
• Floor Exercise:1960 -silver, 1964 -silver
• Uneven Bars:1960 -gold, 1964 -gold

World Championships

• Team Competition:1956-gold, 1962-gold, 1966-silver
• Uneven Bars:1958-silver

European Championships

• All Around Competition:1961-silver
• Floor Exercise:1959-gold, 1961-silver
• Balance Beam:1961-gold
• Uneven Bars:1959-gold, 1961-gold

National Championships (USSR)

• All Around Competition:1956-bronze, 1958-bronze, 1959-gold, 1962-bronze, 1963-bronze, 1965-silver
• Vault:1956-bronze
• Floor Exercise:1958-bronze, 1959-gold,1960-gold, 1961-silver, 1962-bronze, 1963-silver, 1964-gold,1965-gold
• Balance Beam:1959-silver, 1960-silver, 1961-gold, 1965-bronze
• Uneven Bars:1956-bronze, 1957-bronze, 1958-silver, 1959-gold, 1960-gold, 1961-silver, 1962-silver, 1963-gold, 1964-silver, 1965-gold, 1967-bronze

USSR Cup

• All Around Competition:1959-Winner, 1960-Winner, 1963-Winner, 1965-Winner