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.
Alexandra Michel Orlando is a retired Canadian rhythmic gymnast. She represented Canada at the 2008 Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games.
Yelena Aleksandrovna Posevina is a Russian former group rhythmic gymnast. She is a two-time Group Olympic champion, who attended Olympic Games on 2004 and 2008. She is a two-time World Group All-around champion and a three-time European Group All-around champion.
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.
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.
Francesca Victoria R. "Frankie" Jones is a retired Welsh rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales at three successive Commonwealth Games. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games Jones won both the Ribbon event in rhythmic gymnastics and the David Dixon Award.
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.
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.
Luigi Cimnaghi is an Italian sports administrator and retired gymnast. He competed at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and finished in 4th and 12th place with the Italian team, respectively. His best individual result was 14th place on the parallel bars in 1964. He won gold medals with the Italian team at the 1963 and 1967 Mediterranean Games, as well as four individual medals in 1967: two silvers, on the parallel bars and vault, and two bronze medals, all-around and on the horizontal bar.
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.
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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