to compete. At the 1979 Coca-Cola International in England, Davydova won a gold on floor and but lost gold on bars, after her coach blocked the line of vision of one of the judges, and she suffered the mandatory 0.3 deduction. She finished second AA at the Simo Sappien memorial tournament in Finland. Davydova was unable to attend the 1979 World Championships in Fort Worth, U.S., because of influenza. At the World University Games in Mexico she won team gold, bronze AA, and a silver medal on floor and bronze on vault. In 1979 Olga Korbut named Davydova, Stella Zakharova, and Natalia Shaposhnikova as the three most promising young gymnasts. 1980 Olympic Games At the 1980 Moscow News Tournament Davydova performed a full-on, full off vault. that had had only ever been done before by Olga Korbut. Davydova won a gold and 3 silver at the Moscow News Tournament. At the 1980 USSR Championships in April in Kiev Davydova won gold on vault- unveiling her unique vault full twist on, front somi off, scoring a 10 – and finished 3rd AA. The Soviet Olympic gymnastics team was to be chosen after the USSR Cup competition. Davydova had finished joint 6th at the 1976 USSR Cup but that turned out to be insufficient to be placed on the team. Davydova won the all-around and scored a 10 on floor. Davydova subsequently was named to the Olympic team. At the Olympics Davydova qualified for the all-around, vault and beam finals. The Soviet team won team gold and Davydova went on to win the all-around gold medal, and silver on the balance beam. Post-Olympics On 3 July 1981 in Montreux, the 100th anniversary celebration of the International Gymnastics Federation took place. Davydova was invited to perform her floor exercise. In August Davydova won the tournament in Giresum, Turkey. She won the AA title and was top scorer on vault, bars, floor and joint top scorer on beam. She scored 10's on bars and floor. At the 1981 USSR Championships, Davydova won the All-Around title plus golds on floor and vault and bronze on bars. She also participated in the 1981 World Championships, her last major international event. The USSR won team gold. Davydova suffered a serious neck injury in pre-competition warm up but still finished 3rd all-around with a fall and was the only gymnast from any nation to make all 4 event