Francesca Benolli (born 26 August 1989 in Trieste) is an Italian artistic gymnast who competed at her first international competition in 2003.
As a junior gymnast, Benolli was part of the Italian team which won a bronze medal at the 2004 Junior European Championships in Amsterdam. In 2005, Benolli became age eligible for Senior competition and made an immediate impact, winning the 2005 European Vault title at just fifteen as well as respectable fifth-place finishes in both the All Around and Floor exercise finals.
However, Benolli suffered serious injury after this competition, missing both the 2005 and 2006 World Championships. She came back in 2007 and was a member of the Italian team which placed in the top 12 at the World Championships, qualifying them to the 2008 Olympics. In 2008, Benolli won a bronze medal on vault at Europeans and was a member of the Italian team in Beijing.
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations like British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
Marian Drăgulescu is a former Romanian artistic gymnast. During his senior gymnastics career he won 31 medals at Olympic Games at World and European Championships, of which eight are gold medals at the World Championships and ten are gold medals at European Championships. Drăgulescu's strongest events were vault and floor, on which he was a multiple world champion and Olympic medalist. The handspring double front somersault with ½ turn is named after him in the Code of Points. In the all-around, Drăgulescu was the European champion (2004) and bronze medalist (2000) and placed 8th at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Anna Anatolyevna Pavlova is a Russian-born artistic gymnast who won two bronze medals at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and represented Russia in other international competitions. In 2002 she won the Russian National Championships.
Elena "Zamo" Mikhailovna Zamolodchikova is a Russian former artistic gymnast, and four-time Olympic medallist. In 2015, she was inducted in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
Jana Lyn Bieger is an American former gymnast of German descent. She was raised in the U.S. and is a citizen, and competed only for the U.S. At the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she won three silver medals. Bieger was an alternate on the 2008 Olympic team.
Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina is an eight-time Olympic gymnast who has competed for the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan, and Germany.
Ecaterina Szabo is a former Romanian artistic gymnast who won 20 Olympic, world and continental medals.
Steliana Nistor is a Romanian former artistic gymnast. She was a key member of the Romanian team between 2006 and 2008, where she helped the Romania win team bronze medals at the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympics. Individually, she is the 2007 world all-around and beam silver medallist, the 2007 and 2008 European silver medallist on the uneven bars and the 2007 bronze medallist on the balance beam. Nistor was a strong all-around competitor but her best events were balance beam and uneven bars.
Ivan Ivankov is a retired Belarusian artistic gymnast. Ivankov; a very big name in the gymnastics world, which he earned throughout years of competition and hard work. The 1994 and 1997 all-around World Champion, and the 1994 and 1996 all-around European Champion, Ivankov has competed for over a decade on the international circuit. Despite his numerous achievements at the World Championships, Europeans and other events, Ivankov has suffered a string of misfortunes at the Olympics, and has never won an Olympic medal. He had to share a third place with another competitor, after which, the bronze Olympic medal wasn’t given to him.
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.
Elena Leușteanu-Popescu was a Romanian artistic gymnast who competed at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics. During her career she won three Olympic bronze medals, one world bronze medal and five continental silver medals. She was the first Romanian artistic gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal.
Lavinia Agache is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She won 10 medals at major international events, including a team gold medal at the 1984 Olympics and three silver medals at the 1983 World Championships. She is also the 1983 European champion on balance beam.
Ksenia Dmitrievna Afanasyeva is a retired Russian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the 2011 world champion on floor exercise, the 2013 and 2015 European floor champion, and the 2013 Universiade vault and floor champion. Widely regarded as one of the most original and artistic gymnasts of all time, she retired from elite gymnastics in July 2016 due to kidney disease, a month away from the 2016 Summer Olympics, for which she was the Russian team's first alternate.
Cerasela Pătraşcu is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She is a bronze world medalist and a gold European medalist with the team.
Elena Amelia Racea is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She is a European champion on balance beam and a European all around and team bronze medalist.
Angelina Romanovna Melnikova is a Russian artistic gymnast. With eleven Olympic and World medals, she is the joint third-most decorated Russian gymnast of all time. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics she led the Russian Olympic Committee to gold in the team competition. She previously represented Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in the team competition. She was also a member of the gold medal-winning Russian teams at the 2016 and 2018 European Championships, and the silver medal-winning Russian teams at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships.
Lia Parolari is an Italian artistic gymnast who represented Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics where she finished fourteenth in the individual all-around final. Parolari was a member of the Italian team that won a gold medal at the 2006 European Championships. She is the 2008 Italian Champion in the all-around.
The Italy women's national artistic gymnastics team represents Italy in FIG international competitions.
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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