Olga Korbut faces shoplift charge

Famed Olympic gymnast Olga Korbut has been charged with stealing $19 worth of items from an Atlanta-area supermarket, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said on Saturday.

The paper said Korbut, 46, was arrested late on Thursday on a misdemeanor charge that she took cheese, chocolate syrup, figs, tea and seasoning mix from a public store in Norcross.

Korbut's attorney, Thomas C. Nagel, was quoted as saying the four-time gold medallist denies the allegations. Her manager, Kay Weatherford, told the paper that the incident was a misunderstanding.

Weatherford said Korbut explained to her that the confusion occurred when she tried to leave the grocery store with her shopping cart and retrieve her wallet that she had left in her car, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Citing the arrest warrant, the paper said a store security guard alleged she saw Korbut put items inside her purse before leaving the store.

Korbut was released from the Gwinnett County Detention Center in Lawrenceville late on Thursday, the paper said. A Gwinnett County magistrate is to hear the case on Tuesday.

Korbut, a native of Belarus, won three gold medals at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. She won another gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. She now works as a gymnastics coach in the Atlanta area, the paper said.