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.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, three disciplines of gymnastics were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics and trampoline events were held at the Olympic Indoor Hall and the rhythmic gymnastics events were held at the Galatsi Olympic Hall.
Yordan Yovchev Yovchev, also spelled Jordan Jovtchev, is a retired Bulgarian gymnast. He took part in six consecutive Olympic Games, more than any other Bulgarian athlete in Olympic history. He is president of the Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation and also serves as a sports commentator.
Kurt Bilteaux Thomas was an American Olympic gymnast and part-time actor. In 1978, he became the first American male gymnast to win a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In 1979, he won six medals at the world championship, setting the record for most medals won at a single world championship by an American gymnast, a feat matched only by Simone Biles in 2018. He competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Thomas was favored to win a medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics but was unable to compete due to the USA boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games.
Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina is an Uzbekistani artistic gymnast.
Neshka Stefanova Robeva is a Bulgarian former Rhythmic Gymnast and coach.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics, two different gymnastics disciplines were contested. In addition to the fourteen artistic gymnastics events contested, for the first time at the Olympics, a rhythmic gymnastics event was contested–the women's individual all-around. All of the gymnastics events were held at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles from July 29 through August 11. Several teams who had qualified to compete were absent as a result of the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott, including the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, and North Korea.
Epke Jan Zonderland is a Dutch artistic gymnast and the 2012 Olympic gold medallist on high bar. He is a 4-time Olympian (2008–20) and has also taken 3 World Championships golds on high bar at the 2013, 2014 and 2018 World Championships, the first man to secure this feat on that apparatus. He is nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman.”
Bulgaria has established traditions in a great variety of sports.
Diliana Georgieva is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She was one of the Golden Girls of Bulgaria that dominated Rhythmic Gymnastics in 1980's.
Adriana Dunavska is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1988 Olympic All-around silver medallist, 1987 World All-around silver medallist, 1989 World All-around bronze medallist and the 1988 European All-around champion. She also won a gold medal at the 1987 World Championships with the rope. Her twin sister, Kamelia Dunavska was also a competitive rhythmic gymnast.
Denis Mikhailovich Ablyazin is a Russian artistic gymnast. Ablyazin is Olympic Champion 2020 in Tokyo and a seven-time Olympic Games medalist. At the 2012 London Olympics he won silver in vault and bronze in floor. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he won silver with the Russian men's team, a silver in vault and bronze in rings.
Reneta Petrova Kamberova is a Bulgarian Group rhythmic gymnast. She was a member of the Bulgarian winning team that won gold at the 2014 World Championships in the group all-around and a 2011 World and 2016 Olympic Group all-around bronze medalist.
Nikita Vladimirovich Nagornyy is a Russian artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian, representing Russia in 2016 and ROC in 2020. He was part of the teams who won gold at the 2020 Olympic Games and 2019 World Championships and silver at the 2016 Olympic Games and 2018 World Championships.
Mihaela Maevska is a Bulgarian Group rhythmic gymnast. She was part of the Bulgarian group that won bronze in group all-around at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She also won gold at the 2014 World Championships in Group all-around and bronze at the 2011 World Championships.
Hristiana Todorova is a Bulgarian politician and former group rhythmic gymnast.
Erika Rosenova Zafirova is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic group all-around champion. She is the 2019 World group all-around bronze medalist and 5 balls silver medalist. She is the 2021 European 5 balls champion and 3 hoops + 4 clubs silver medalist. She won two silver medals and one bronze medal at the 2019 European Games.
Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo is a Filipino artistic gymnast who has won multiple medals at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. He is the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with his floor exercise bronze medal finish in 2018, and the first ever gold medal for the Philippines in 2019 on the same apparatus. This performance also qualified him to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Plamen Petkov is a Bulgarian gymnast. He competed in eight events at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His twin brother Rumen was also on the Bulgarian gymnastics team at the same Games.
Stiliana Nikolova is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 World all-around bronze medalist and hoop, clubs, and ribbon silver medalist, and a two-time European all-around bronze medalist and champion in the team competition. She is also the 2020 European Junior ribbon champion and ball silver medalist.
