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.
Irina Viktorovna Tchachina is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in all-around, a two-time World all-around bronze medalist, the 2004 European all-around bronze medalist and 2000 Grand Prix Final all-around silver medalist.
XIX World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Vienna, the capital of Austria, September 20–24, 1995.
Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva OMF is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the only individual rhythmic gymnast in history to win two Olympic all-around gold medals, winning at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she finished with 3.75 points ahead of silver medalist Inna Zhukova, and at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she also became the oldest gymnast to win the Olympic gold. On 4 July 2013, Kanaeva received the International Fair Play Award for "Sport and Life".
Liubov Viktorovna Charkashyna is a retired Belarusian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around bronze medalist, and the 2011 European ball and clubs champion.
Daria Vladimirovna Kondakova is a Russian retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a three-time World all-around silver medalist, the 2010 European all-around silver medalist and two time Grand Prix Final all-around silver medalist. She was coached by Anna Shumilova. She now works as a rhythmic gymnastics coach and choreographer.
Son Yeon Jae KTM is a retired South Korean individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a former member of the South Korean national gymnastics team, based in Taereung, Seoul. Son is the 2014 Asian Games All-around Champion, the 2010 Asian Games All-around bronze medalist, three-time Asian Championships All-around Champion. She is the first and only South Korean individual rhythmic gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships, FIG World Cup series, Universiade and the Asian Games.
Julie Ashley Zetlin is a retired elite rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2010 U.S. Senior National Champion in Rhythmic Gymnastics, and represented the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Neta Rivkin is a retired Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast.
Dayane Pires da Rocha is a Brazilian handball player for Molde Elite and the Brazilian national team.
Deng Senyue is a retired Chinese individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2014 Asian Games silver medalist. She finished 4th in All-around at the 2013 World Championships.
Margarita Mamun is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast of Bangladeshi-Russian descent. She is the 2016 Olympic All-around champion, two-time World All-around silver medalist, the 2015 European Games All-around silver medalist, the 2016 European Championships All-around silver medalist, three-time Grand Prix Final All-around champion and a three-time (2011–2013) Russian National All-around champion.
The 2013 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Kyiv, Ukraine, from August 28 to September 1, 2013 at the Palace of Sports.
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.
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).
The 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, the 34th edition, was held in Stuttgart, Germany, from September 7 to 13, 2015 at the Porsche Arena.
Rut Castillo Galindo is a Mexican individual rhythmic gymnast. She represented Mexico at the 2020 Summer Olympics and became the first Mexican, and LGBTQ+ rhythmic gymnast to compete at an Olympic Games. She is the 2021 Pan American all-around champion. At the 2007 Pan American Games, she won the silver medal in hoop and the bronze medals in the all-around and clubs. She is an eight-time Central American and Caribbean Games champion. She has also competed at nine World Championships.
Natália Azevedo Gaudio is a Brazilian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2018 South American Games all-around gold medalist, and the 2019 Pan American Games all-around bronze medalist.
Viktoriia Maksimivna Onopriienko is a Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. She competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing tenth in the all-around final. She is the 2020 Grand Prix Final all-around champion and the 2022 World Games ribbon bronze medalist. She is the 2021 Ukrainian all-around champion. At the junior level, she is the 2018 European team silver medalist.
Camila Ferezin is a former rhythmic gymnast and the current coach of the Brazilian national senior group. In her gymnast career, she was a member of the group that won Brazil's first Pan American Games gold medal in 1999, she also competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Brazil
