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.
Alina Maratovna Kabaeva or Kabayeva is a Russian politician, media manager and retired individual rhythmic gymnast, who has been designated Honoured Master of Sports by the Russian government.
Blaine Carew Wilson is a retired American gymnast. He is a five-time U.S. national champion (1996-2000), a three-time Olympian, and an Olympic silver medalist in the team competition at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Ecaterina Szabo is a former Romanian artistic gymnast who won 20 Olympic, world and continental medals.
Daniele Matias Hypólito is a Brazilian gymnast who competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and the 2016 Olympic Games. Hypólito is the first gymnast from Brazil to win a medal at the World Championships, a silver in floor exercise in 2001. She is also the nine-time senior all-around Brazilian national champion in artistic gymnastics, 2002 South American Games all-around champion and 2003 Pan American Games all-around bronze medalist. To date, Hypólito has won the Brazilian National Championships more than ten times; represented Brazil at the World Championships thirteen times, competing in every championship from 1999 to 2015, except in 2009; taken part in every edition of the Olympic Games from 2000 to 2016; and competed at five Pan American Games between 1999 and 2015.
Yukio Endō was a Japanese artistic gymnast, Olympic champion and world champion. He was part of the first Japanese team that succeeded to win gold medals in the team event at the Summer Olympics (1960) and World Championships (1962). In 1964 he won the first individual all-around Olympic gold medal for Japan. He was the flag bearer at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Cristina Bontaş is a Romanian former artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1987 and 1993. Her best events were the floor exercise, the vault, and the all around. She is a world champion on floor, a double olympic medalist and a six-time world medalist. Bontaş scored a perfect ten on floor in the all around event of the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
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".
Monica Roberta Bergamelli is a former Italian artistic gymnast who represented Italy at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympic Games. She was a member of the Italian team that won the gold medal at the 2006 European Championships.
Olga Sergeyevna Kapranova is a Russian retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2005 World All-around champion, the 2007 World All-around bronze medalist, the 2008 European All-around bronze medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final All-around champion, a two-time Grand Prix Final All-around silver medalist and the 2005 Grand Prix Final All-around bronze medalist.
Cristina Elena Grigoraş is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She is a two-time Olympic medalist with the team. Individually, she won four medals at the 1981 European Championships. She is best known for a skill on the balance beam named after her: forward salto tucked with ½ twist (180°) take off from both legs.
Marta Baldó Marín is a Spanish rhythmic gymnast and Olympic Champion. She won a gold medal with the Spanish group at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The team was formed by Marta, Estela Giménez, Nuria Cabanillas, Lorena Guréndez, Estíbaliz Martínez and Tania Lamarca. She has also won bronze, silver and gold metals at the rhythmic gymnastics World Championships, and silver and bronze metals at the European championships.
Aliya Yussupova is a retired individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for Kazakhstan, coached by Irina Viner. In February 2021, she became the president of the Kazakhstan Gymnastics Federation.
Doina Stăiculescu is a Romanian individual rhythmic gymnast. She won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics, when rhythmic gymnastics was introduced as an Olympic event.
Marinella Falca is a former Italian gymnast born in Giovinazzo on 1 May 1986.
Daniela Masseroni is a former Italian rhythmic gymnast.
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.
Samira Arastunovna Mustafaeva is a Russian and Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast. She is a multiple time medalist of the World Team Championships, a champion in St. Petersburg, “Master of Sport” in Russia, and a world-class gymnast according to FIG. She was part of the national team of Azerbaijan, and later became part of the Russian national team. She retired from her career in professional rhythmic gymnastics in 2013.
Sofia Raffaeli is an Italian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 World all-around, hoop, ball, ribbon and team champion, the 2023 World all-around, hoop and ball silver medalist, the 2023 European ball and clubs champion and silver all-around medalist, and the 2022 European hoop and clubs champion. She is also the 2019 Junior World silver medalist with rope and clubs. She is the first Italian individual rhythmic gymnast to win a gold medal at the World Championships, European Championships and World Games, and she has won seven all-around gold medals in the FIG World Cup circuit.
Federica Macrì is an Italian former artistic gymnast who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was a member of the Italian team that won the gold medal at the 2006 European Championships.
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