If she had been born in America, 34-year old Marina Gladkova would have missed her true calling. She was, as it turned out, a world-class athlete in her native Russia. But you could barely find her sport in the United States, much less Minnesota. Until now.
Gladkova has opened a school in St. Louis Park to give Minnesotans their first taste of rhythmic gymnastics--the kind with ribbons and Hula-Hoops, not beams and bars.
Rhythm 'n Russe
A champion in the "other" gymnastics has a mission
By Maura Lerner, Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 21, 1995.