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.
At the 2000 Summer Olympics, three different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics and trampoline events were held at the Sydney SuperDome on 16–25 September and 22–23 September, respectively. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at Pavilion 3 of the Sydney Olympic Park on 28 September – 1 October.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, three disciplines of gymnastics were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics and trampoline events were held at the Olympic Indoor Hall and the rhythmic gymnastics events were held at the Galatsi Olympic Hall.
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.
Elsa García Rodriguez is a Mexican artistic gymnast who represented Mexico at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was also awarded the Longines Prize for Elegance during the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastic Championships. Having won 35 medals in international competition, she is widely regarded as the greatest female Mexican gymnast of all time.
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".
Darya Andreyevna Dmitriyeva is a Russian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around silver medalist, the 2010 World ribbon champion, the 2012 Grand Prix Final all-around champion, 2011 Grand Prix Final all-around silver medalist and 2010 Grand Prix Final all-around bronze medalist.
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.
Kristina Vaculik is a Canadian artistic gymnast who represented Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2011–2012, Vaculik took a year off from Stanford University, which she is attending on a gymnastics scholarship, in order to train full-time for the Olympics.
Christine Jennifer Peng-Peng Lee is a retired Canadian artistic gymnast. She was a member of the Canadian team that qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, though a knee injury prevented her from competing in the Games. She attended UCLA and led the gymnastics team to the 2018 NCAA National Championship. Lee prefers to use her Chinese name Peng Peng when doing gymnastics, saying it makes her feel like "someone completely different."
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.
Talia Chiarelli is a Canadian artistic gymnast. In 2006, she moved with her family to Boston and trains at Brestyan's Gymnastics in Burlington, Massachusetts, but still represents the Bluewater Gymnastics Club in competition. She is the daughter of former Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli.
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.
Maria Kitkarska is a rhythmic gymnast competing for Canada. She is the 2010 Canadian junior all-around champion and 2012 Canadian Senior all-around champion.
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).
Rose Cossar, also known as Rosie, is a Canadian rhythmic gymnast, who represented Canada at the 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, the 2011 Pan American Games and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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.
Anjelika Reznik is a Canadian former group rhythmic gymnast and individual athlete. She represents her nation at international competitions. Reznik made history by qualifying Canada as the 1st group ever when she participated at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Elizaveta Pletneva is a Russian-born American group rhythmic gymnast who represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Carmel Kallemaa is an Estonian-born Canadian rhythmic gymnast.
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