Irina Sazonova

Last updated
Irina Sazonova
Full nameИрина Сазонова
Country representedFlag of Iceland.svg Iceland
Former countries representedFlag of Russia.svg Russia
Born (1991-09-02) 2 September 1991 (age 32)
Vologda, Russia
Residence Reykjavík, Iceland
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
Years on national team2005–12 (RUS)
2014–Present (ISL)
ClubFimleikadeild Armanns
Head coach(es)Hildur Ketilsdottir, Vladimir Antonov
Former coach(es)Svetlana Kolomenskaya, Yuri Kolomensky
Medal record
Women's gymnastics
Representing Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Summer Universiade
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2011 Shenzhen Team
Representing Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland
Northern European Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2014 Greve Uneven Bars
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2015 Limerick Uneven Bars
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2017 Tórshavn Team
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2017 Tórshavn All-Around
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Kópavogur Uneven Bars
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Kópavogur Floor Exercise
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2015 Limerick Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2015 Limerick Floor Exercise
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2019 Kópavogur Vault

Irina Sazonova (born 2 September 1991) is a Russian-born Icelandic female artistic gymnast, currently representing Iceland at international competitions. Prior to her move to Iceland, she represented Russia at the 2011 Summer Universiade. She represented Iceland at the 2015 Northern European and World Championships and became the first female Icelandic gymnast at the Olympics, competing in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She currently resides in Reykjavík and trains at Fimleikadeild Armanns. [1]

Contents

As a Russian athlete, she competed at the 2009 Russian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2010 Russian Artistic Gymnastics Championships and 2011 Summer Universiade. Representing Iceland, she competed at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow. [2] She became the first Icelandic female to book an Olympic spot in the apparatus and all-around events at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro. [3]

Career

Russia

Sazonova made her international debut as a junior, competing at the 2005 WOGA Classic in Texas. She won bronze on vault, and placed fifth in the all-around and floor exercise, sixth on uneven bars, and thirteenth on balance beam. As a senior, she competed at the Russian Championships in 2010, winning team bronze, and placing fifth on floor and thirteenth in the all-around. She was sent to compete at the Cottbus World Cup the following year, but did not make the event finals. Later that year, she competed at the Universiade, winning team bronze, and placing sixth on uneven bars and seventh in the all-around.

Iceland

Sazonova made the move to Iceland in 2014, with her change in nationality and international representation becoming official later that year. Her first international competition representing Iceland was the Voronin Cup in her native Russia, but she did not make the event finals. The following year, she competed at the Northern European Championships, winning uneven bars gold, floor exercise bronze, and placing fourth in the all-around. She also competed at the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, but did not make the event finals. At the Voronin Cup at the end of the year, she placed sixth in the all-around and uneven bars and eighth on balance beam.

In April 2016, she competed at the Olympic Test Event. She placed thirty-ninth in the all-around, qualifying as an individual for the Olympics. She later competed at the Nordic Championships, winning team and uneven bars gold, vault silver, and placing fifth in the all-around. In June, she competed at the European Championships in Switzerland, but did not make the event finals.

Rio Olympics

Sazonova competed in the fourth subdivision of qualifications, starting on vault. She placed fortieth in the all-around, fifty-eighth on uneven bars, sixtieth on floor exercise, and sixty-fourth on balance beam.

Following Rio, she placed sixth on uneven bars and seventh on vault at the Cottbus World Cup in November. In December, she competed at the Voronin Cup, winning silver on vault, bronze on bars and beam, and placing fourth in the all-around and sixth with her team and on floor.

Competitive history

YearEventTFAAVTUBBBFX
2005 WOGA Classic 5Bronze medal icon.svg6135
2010 Russian Championships Bronze medal icon.svg135
Stuttgart World Cup 6
2011 Shenzhen Summer Universiade Bronze medal icon.svg76
2014 Voronin Cup 3
2015 Northern European Championships 4Gold medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg
World Championships 98
Voronin Cup 668
2016 Icelandic ChampionshipsGold medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svg
Olympic Test Event 39
GK ChampionshipsGold medal icon.svg
Nordic Championships Gold medal icon.svg5Silver medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svg
European Championships 14
Olympic Games 40
TM Tournament66Bronze medal icon.svg
Iceland Fall CupGold medal icon.svg
Cottbus World Cup 76
Turnkunst International4Silver medal icon.svg
Voronin Cup 64Silver medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg6
2017 Icelandic Team ChampionshipsBronze medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg
Icelandic ChampionshipsGold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svg6Gold medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg
European Championships 39
GK ChampionshipsSilver medal icon.svg
World Championships 37
Northern European Championships Silver medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg587
Voronin Cup Bronze medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svg85
2018 Reykjavík International GamesSilver medal icon.svg
Icelandic Team ChampionshipsSilver medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg
Icelandic ChampionshipsGold medal icon.svgGold medal icon.svgBronze medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg
2019 Northern European Championships 45Bronze medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svgSilver medal icon.svg
World Championships 110

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Pavlova (gymnast)</span> Russian-born artistic gymnast (born 1987)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ksenia Afanasyeva</span> Russian artistic gymnast

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aliya Mustafina</span> Former Russian artistic gymnast

Aliya Farkhatovna Mustafina is a Russian former artistic gymnast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktoria Komova</span> Russian artistic gymnast

Viktoria Aleksandrovna Komova is a former Russian artistic gymnast. She is a two-time Olympic medalist, having won silver medals in the all-around and team events at the 2012 Olympics. She is also the 2011 world uneven bars champion and all-around silver medalist, and the 2015 co-world champion on uneven bars. At the junior level, she was the 2010 Youth Olympics all-around champion, uneven bars champion, vault champion, and floor exercise bronze medalist. Komova is known for her fluidity, form and old school Soviet style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Dementyeva</span> Russian artistic gymnast

Anna Yurievna Dementyeva is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 European all-around and beam champion, and a world gold medalist with the team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellie Black</span> Canadian artistic gymnast

Elsabeth Ann Black is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is a three-time Olympian, having represented her country at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2017 World all-around silver medalist, making her the first Canadian gymnast to win a world all-around medal, and she led the Canadian women's gymnastics team to a bronze medal in the 2022 World Championships team final, the first world team medal won by a Canadian gymnastics team. She won a silver medal on the balance beam at the 2022 World Championships. She is also the 2018 Commonwealth Games all-around champion, a two-time Pan American Games all-around champion, and a six-time Canadian national all-around champion. At the 2020 Olympic Games, Black placed fourth in the balance beam final, the highest placement in the Olympics for a female Canadian gymnast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Bui</span> German artistic gymnast

Kim Bui is a retired German artistic gymnast. She represented Germany at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2009 and 2014 German National Champion and the 2011 European bronze medalist on the uneven bars. In her final competition, she was part of the first German team to win a European team medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valeria Maksyuta</span> Israeli artistic gymnast

Valeria Vladimirovna Maksyuta is a former artistic gymnast who represented Ukraine for several years before immigrating to Israel in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelina Melnikova</span> Russian artistic gymnast

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anastasia Ilyankova</span> Russian artistic gymnast

Anastasia Andreyevna Ilyankova is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic silver medalist, the 2019 European champion, and the 2019 and 2020 Russian champion on the uneven bars. She is a four-time FIG World Cup medalist, and she finished fourth on the uneven bars at the 2017 World Championships.

Elena Vyacheslavovna Eremina is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2017 World all-around bronze medalist and the 2016 European junior all-around champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Nekrasova</span> Russian-born Azerbaijani artistic gymnast

Marina Nekrasova is a Russian-born artistic gymnast who has represented Azerbaijan since 2013. She is the 2019 Summer Universiade vault champion. At the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games, she won gold in the team event and silver medals on the vault and balance beam. She is also a three-time World Challenge Cup vault champion. She competed at the 2020 Olympic Games, making her the first woman artistic gymnast to represent Azerbaijan at the Olympic Games.

Natalia Andreevna Kapitonova is a Russian artistic gymnast.

Rifda Irfanaluthfi is an Indonesian artistic gymnast. She is the 2018 Asian Games floor exercise silver medalist and a four-time SEA Games champion. She is also a three-time medalist on the FIG World Cup series. She will represent Indonesia at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera van Pol</span> Dutch artistic gymnast

Vera Dorothea Wilhelmina van Pol is a Dutch artistic gymnast. She represented the Netherlands at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. She won a bronze medal with the Dutch team at the 2018 European Championships. She is the 2015 and 2018 Dutch all-around champion. She competed at the 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2021 World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladislava Urazova</span> Russian artistic gymnast

Vladislava Sergeyevna Urazova is a Russian artistic gymnast. She represented the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal in the team event. She was a member of the team who won gold at the inaugural Junior World Championships. Individually she is the 2019 Junior World Champion and 2021 European silver medalist on the uneven bars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktoria Listunova</span> Russian artistic gymnast

Viktoria Viktorovna Listunova is a Russian artistic gymnast. She represented the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal in the team event. She was a member of the team that won gold at the inaugural Junior World Championships. Individually, she is the 2019 Junior World all-around and floor exercise champion, the 2021 European all-around champion, and the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Russian National Champion.

Hatakeda Hitomi is a Japanese former artistic gymnast who competed at the 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2019 Summer Universiade champion in the team, all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam. She is also the 2020 American Cup all-around bronze medalist.

Elīna Vihrova is a Latvian artistic gymnast. She is the 2019 Latvian national champion and the 2020 Szombathely Challenge Cup balance beam silver medalist, and has competed at two World Championships.

Hanna Aliaksandrauna Traukova is a Belarusian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2020 Olympic Games.

References

  1. Crumlish, John. "Russian-Born Sazonova Realizes Olympic Dream In Iceland". intlgymnast.com. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  2. "2015 World Gymnastics Championships athletes - Irina Sazonova". longinestiming.com. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  3. "Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers in Women's Artistic Gymnastics: See the updated list!". FIG. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.