Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. 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.
Quidam was the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has been watched by millions of spectators around the world. Quidam originated as a big-top show in Montreal and was converted into an arena format beginning with its 2010 tour in North America. It then changed back to the Big Top for a 3-month run in Seoul, South Korea before returning to an arena show for its tour to Oceania. The show performed for the final time in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 26, 2016.
Yulia Raskina is a Belarusian former rhythmic gymnast and trainer. She is the 2000 Olympics silver medalist, the 1999 World All-around silver medalist, the two time (2000,1999) European All-around silver medalist and 1999 Grand Prix Final All-around champion.
Mary Sanders is an American individual Rhythmic Gymnast. Mary holds dual citizenship of both the United States and Canada, as her father was American and her mother is Canadian. She began her career representing Canada but began to compete for the USA in late 2002. Sanders is a two-time Canadian Rhythmic Gymnastics Champion and three-time U.S.A. Rhythmic Gymnastics Champion, 4 Continents Champion, 2 time Pan American Champion and earned the title of one of the most successful Rhythmic gymnast in the Western Hemisphere, alongside Laura Zeng and Evita Griskenas
Tamara Anatoliyivna Yerofeyeva is a famous individual rhythmic gymnast. She was All-Around World Champion, multiple World Cup's winner, World Universiade winner and an Olympic Game's finalist. Tamara was competing for Ukraine's National Team from 1996 to 2004 winning more than 300 medals for Ukraine at various competitions. She currently lives in Las Vegas, USA and performing with her solo hoops act at different shows including Cirque Du Soleil, Spiegelworld, David Saxe Productions and more. Also, she’s participating in all kinds of gala and corporate events around the world. One of her recent performances was at Fashion Costume Showcase of famous french designer Thierry Mugler in Montreal, Canada.
Mary Elise Ray is an American gymnast who represented the United States at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 1999 World Championships. She was the head gymnastics coach at the University of Washington from 2016 to 2020.
Mo Huilan is a retired Chinese gymnast who competed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She was one of China's most successful gymnasts in the 1990s. She was known for performing routines of exceptional difficulty and technique, but also for inconsistency.
Ludivine Furnon is a retired Olympic athlete from France.
Yelena Nikolayevna Grosheva is a Russian former competitive gymnast. She won silver in the team event at the 1996 Summer Olympics and two team medals at the World Championships.
Elena Lev, born in Moscow, Russia on December 1st 1981, began her training to become a rhythmic gymnast at an early age, assisted and coached by her mother, Elena Lev Sr. She developed a signature hula hoop act incorporating gymnastics and contortion. Her big breakthrough came when she was invited to join the Alegría touring troupe of Cirque du Soleil, of which she was a member from 1994 through 2000. She also performed briefly with the Quidam troupe in 2002. Lev performed with Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Isabelle Severino is a French gymnast and actress from Montmorency, Paris, France.
Olga Pikhienko is a circus performer who specializes in handbalancing and contortion. Pikhienko started in rhythmic gymnastics at the age of five. When she was eleven, she started performing with her father, Sasha Pikhienko, at the Nikulin Circus based in Moscow. Olga's act with her father won them a gold medal in 1992 at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris. In 1993, they won a silver medal in Beijing, China at the World Festival.
Stephen Raj Bhavsar is an American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the 2001 and 2003 World Championships U.S. team. He earned a bronze medal as a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. He was originally an alternate, but was named to the team following the injury withdrawal of Paul Hamm. At the Games, Bhavsar earned a bronze medal with the U.S. team in Artistic Gymnastics with teammates Alexander Artemev, Joey Hagerty, Jonathan Horton, Justin Spring, and Kai Wen Tan.
Shona Morgan is an Australian former gymnast, who trained at the Waverley Gymnastics Centre in Victoria under John Hart and Shaoyi Jiang. Shona was the all-around silver medalist at the 2008 Australian National Championships and was a member of the Australian team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Shona had previously represented Australia successfully at the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany; the 2007 Australia vs China dual meet in Melbourne, Australia; and the 2008 Golden State Classic in Sacramento, California.
Shenea Booth is an American acrobatic gymnast who represented the United States of America at the 2001 World Games, the 2002 World Championships and the 2004 World Championships in the Mixed Pair event, along with her partner, Arthur Davis.
Koozå is a touring circus production by Cirque du Soleil which premiered in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, in 2007. The show was written and directed by David Shiner, who had previously worked as a clown in Cirque du Soleil's production of Nouvelle Expérience. His experience as a clown and his time with Switzerland's Circus Knie and Germany's Circus Roncalli informed his work on Koozå.
Yvonne Tousek-Renne is a retired artistic gymnast who competed for her native Canada in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
MyKayla Brooke Skinner Harmer is an American former artistic gymnast. She was the 2020 Olympic vault silver medalist and was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team. Skinner competed at the 2014 World Championships where she contributed to the U.S. team's gold medal, also winning an individual bronze medal on vault. She won 11 total medals at the USA National Championships during her senior career. She also competed for the University of Utah's gymnastics team and was a two-time NCAA champion.
Stella Umeh is a Canadian former artistic gymnast and current actress and performer. She competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics placing 16th in the all-around. She is of Guyanese and Nigerian descent.
Anna Stankus is a circus performer who specialises in hula hoop manipulation whilst also incorporating rhythmic gymnastics and contortion in her acts. She is currently on tour with Cirque du Soleil Kooza for its North American tour. Since first beginning her career in 2007, she has gone on to perform in many productions worldwide including for Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Le Noir, Franco Dragone shows and in various variety shows in her hometown of Las Vegas.
Australia 
