Artistic gymnastics
In 1881, the FIG was founded, and it remains the governing body of international gymnastics. It initially included only three countries and was called the European Gymnastics Federation until 1921, when the first non-European countries joined the federation and it was reorganized into its present form. Gymnastics was included in the program of the 1896 Summer Olympics, but women have been allowed to participate in the Olympics only since 1928. The World Championships, held since 1903, were open only to men until 1934. Since that time, two branches of artistic gymnastics have developed: women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) and men's artistic gymnastics (MAG). Unlike men's and women's branches of many other sports, WAG and MAG differ significantly in apparatus used at major competitions and in techniques.
Yelena Davydova
In its 1991 publication, Objectif an 2000, the FIG have a section entitled "Some of the Gymnasts who contributed to the Major Developments". 18 female Artistic gymnasts are named of whom Davydova is one. On the IG website they feature "Legends of Gymnastics". 15 female Artistic gymnasts are profiled, one of whom is Davydova. In 1994 to commemorate the World Championships in Brisbane Australia the Australian government produced first day covers of several famous gymnasts including Davydova
In 1996 she was invited by the Atlanta organising committee to the Olympic Games where she met US President Bill Clinton.
In 2000 Elena was one of the gymnasts pictured in the International Gymnast's (IG) Millennium calendar.
On 11 May 2007 Elena was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame ( IGHOF) – regarded as the Nobel Prize for gymnastics – where special mention was made of her as a gymnastics innovator.
IGHOF website "Yelena Davydova cast a charm on audiences by weaving her flowing routines with cutting-edge difficulty. Davydova's capacity to dare some of the riskiest elements was matched by her exquisite presentation".
IGHOF video "One of the most original precise and elegant of all the legendary Soviet stars was Yelena Davydova. When she first entered the international scene it was clear she would make an impact with her clean execution and exquisite form ... In the 1978 Chunichi Cup in Japan her fluid style on balance beam was becoming a trademark ... In the 1980 Olympics Davydova scored no less than 9.8 on every event over the 3 days of competition to win the allaround gold medal".