Boris Shakhlin, who won a record six individual Olympic gymnastics men`s gold medals, died late on Friday at the age of 76, the Ukrainian Olympic Committee said, according to Reuters.

Shakhlin collected 13 medals for the Soviet Union at three Olympics, including the all-around men`s gold at the 1960 Rome Games.

"This is an irreplacable loss for the world Olympic movement... Shakhlin developed the sport on a world level and for Ukraine," Olympic Committee president Sergei Bubka told Reuters. "He was a legendary person and what`s important is he was able to lead a normal life after becoming an athlete."

Shakhlin, who was born in the Russian west Siberian town of Ishim on January 27, 1932, moved to Ukraine in the early 1950s.

He is survived by his wife Larisa, a former gymnast, their daughter and a granddaughter.

Reuters, Guardian