Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordinated. Rhythmic gymnastics is governed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FiG), which first recognized it as a sport in 1963. It became an Olympic sport in 1984, with an individual all-around event. The group all-around competition was added to the Olympics in 1996. At the international level, rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only sport. The most prestigious competitions, besides the Olympic Games, are the World Championships, World Games, European Championships, European Games, the World Cup Series and the Grand Prix Series. Gymnasts are judged on their artistry, execution of skills, and difficulty of skills, for which they gain points. They perform leaps, balances, and rotations along with handling the apparatus.
The International Gymnastics Federation is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 July 1881 in Liège, Belgium, making it the world's oldest existing international sports organisation. Originally called the European Federation of Gymnastics, it had three member countries—Belgium, France and the Netherlands—until 1921, when non-European countries were admitted and it received its current name.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition for rhythmic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the World Championships, the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympics, and the rhythmic gymnastics events at the World Games. The World Cup series should not be confused with the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix series, which is neither officially organized nor promoted by FIG.
Yana Alexeyevna Kudryavtseva is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Olympic All-around silver medalist, three-time World Champion in the All-around (2013–2015), the 2015 European Games All-around champion, two-time European Championships All-around champion, the 2012 European Junior ball champion. In national level, she is a two-time Russian National All-around champion and three time Russian Junior National all-around champion.
Katsiaryna Aliaksandraŭna Halkina is a retired Belarusian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2018 European all-around bronze medalist. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and finished 6th in the all-around final.
Salome Pazhava is a former Georgian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is Georgia's most successful rhythmic gymnast after Irina Gabashvili. She finished 4th in All-around at the 2015 World Championships.
Aleksandra Sergeyevna Soldatova is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2018 World All-around bronze medalist, 2018 World ribbon champion, the 2016 Grand Prix Final All-around champion and the 2016 Russian National All-around champion. On the junior level, she is the 2012 European Junior ribbon champion and two-time Russian Junior National All-around medalist.
Aesthetic group gymnastics (AGG) is a discipline of gymnastics developed from Finnish "Women's Gymnastics" (naisvoimistelu). The discipline is reminiscent of rhythmic gymnastics, with some significant differences: in AGG, the emphasis is on big and continuous body movement, and the teams are larger. AGG teams often consist of 6–10 gymnasts, and some children’s teams are bigger. Furthermore, apparatus is not used in international AGG competitions as it is in rhythmic gymnastics where balls, ribbons, hoops and clubs are used on the floor area. The sport requires physical qualities such as flexibility, balance, speed, strength, coordination and sense of rhythm where movements of the body are emphasized in the flow and, expressive and aesthetic appeal. A good performance is characterized by uniformity and simultaneity. The competition program consists of versatile and varied body movements, such as body waves and swings, balances and pivots, jumps and leaps, dance steps, and lifts.
Dina Alekseyevna Averina is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic All-around silver medalist, the only four-time World All-around Champion, the 2018 silver and 2021 European All-around bronze medalist and the 2016 Grand Prix Final All-around silver medalist. On a National level, she is the 2017, 2018 and 2022 Russian National All-around champion and the 2013 Russian Junior All-around bronze medalist. Her identical twin sister, Arina Averina, is also a competitive rhythmic gymnast.
Arina Alekseyevna Averina is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a 2020 Summer Olympics finalist, a two-time world all-around silver medalist, a two-time European all-around champion and the 2016 Grand Prix Final all-around bronze medalist. She is a three-time (2019–2021) Russian national all-around champion and a three-time Russian national all-around medalist. Her identical twin sister Dina Averina is also a competitive rhythmic gymnast.
Laura Yihan Zeng is an American former individual rhythmic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. She swept all of the events at the 2015 Pan American Games and at the 2018 Pan American Championships. She is the 2014 Youth Olympic and 2019 Summer Universiade all-around bronze medalist and the 2019 Grand Prix Final hoop bronze medalist. She is an eight-time national all-around champion, six times at the senior level and twice at the junior level (2013-14).
Linoy Ashram is a retired Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic All-around Champion, the 2018 World All-around silver medalist, two-time World All-around bronze medalist, the 2020 European All-around champion, and the 2019 European Games All-around silver medalist. She is the third Israeli athlete and first Israeli woman to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport, and the first Israeli rhythmic gymnast to win an Olympic medal. She became the first rhythmic gymnast from outside a post-Soviet republic to win a gold medal at an Olympics where former Soviet states participated. Ashram announced her retirement from competitive gymnastics at a press conference in Tel Aviv on 4 April 2022.
Sabina Ashirbayeva is a retired individual Kazakh rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Asian Championships All-around bronze medalist.
Nicol Zelikman is a former Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a two-time medalist at the 2016 European Junior Championships.
Laura Jean Pierre Traets is a Bulgarian group rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic champion in the group all-around. She is the 2018 World and 2021 European champion in 5 balls and the 2018 European champion in 3 balls + 2 ropes. She is a two-time World group all-around bronze medalist and the 2017 World group all-around silver medalist. On the junior level, she is the 2013 European group all-around bronze medalist.
Khrystyna Oleksandrivna Pohranychna is a Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2018 Youth Olympic Games all-around silver medalist, a 2020 Olympic Games all-around finalist, and a four-time medalist at the 2018 European Junior Championships.
The FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Junior World Championships, are a rhythmic gymnastics competition organized by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Yelyzaveta Luzan is a Ukrainian-born Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast. As a member of the Azerbaijan group, she is the 2022 World 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls bronze medalist. She is the 2020 European group all-around silver medalist and 2022 European group all-around bronze medalist. She represented Azerbaijan at the 2020 Summer Olympics. As an individual, she represented Azerbaijan at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and won a gold medal in the mixed team event.
Anastasiya Aliaksandrauna Rybakova is a Belarusian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2021 World team and group all-around bronze medalist. She represented Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she finished fifth in the group all-around. She won a team silver medal at the 2021 European Championships. She is the 2019 European Games group all-around and 3 hoops + 4 clubs champion. At the junior level, she is the 2015 European 5 balls champion and group all-around silver medalist.
Karyna Dzmitryeuna Yarmolenka is a Belarusian group rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2021 World team and group all-around bronze medalist. She won a team silver medal at the 2021 European Championships. She is the 2019 European Games group all-around and 3 hoops + 4 clubs champion. She represented Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she finished fifth in the group all-around. At the junior level, she is the 2015 European 5 balls champion and group all-around silver medalist.
Moscow, Russia
