Miss Valentine is an international gymnastics tournament in Tartu, Estonia. The event was first held in 1995 and, as of 2023, has been hosted annually. The event hosts rhythmic gymnastics and aesthetic group gymnastics competitions. In 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, Miss Valentine was hosted as an online competition due to the arena where the event traditionally happens being turned into a temporary vaccination center. [1] [2]
Miss Valentine hosted stages of the Aesthetic Group Gymnastics World Cup series in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
In 2013, for the first time Miss Valentine hosted a Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup stage. In 2020, Miss Valentine served as the third stage of the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix series. It was the first time that the Nordic and Baltic regions received a Grand Prix stage. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, the event was also part of the Grand Prix series. [3] [1]
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups 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.
Hanna Volodymyrivna Bezsonova is a Ukrainian former individual rhythmic gymnast. She is one of the most decorated rhythmic gymnast of her generation. She is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist ; a five-time medalist in the all-around competition of the World Championships: gold in 2007, silver in 2003 and 2005, bronze in 2001 and 2009; a four-time medalist in the all-around competition of the European Championships: silver in 2004 and 2008, bronze in 2002 and 2006; and a four-time medalist in the all-around competition of the Grand Prix Final: gold in 2003, silver in 2002 and 2005, bronze in 2004.
Melitina Dmitryevna Staniouta is a Belarusian retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a three-time World all-around bronze medalist, the 2015 European Games all-around bronze medalist, the 2014 European Championships all-around silver medalist, and 2009 Grand Prix Final all-around bronze medalist.
Anastasia Ilyinichna Bliznyuk is a Russian rhythmic gymnast and coach. She is a two-time Group All-around champion at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, silver medalist at the 2020 Olympics, world champion at the 2017 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, bronze medalist at the 2013 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, and three-time European champion at the 2012, 2016 and 2018 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships. She is the third group rhythmic gymnast to win two gold medals in the Olympic Games after the late Natalia Lavrova and Yelena Posevina, and the only rhythmic gymnast to win three medals in the Olympic Games.
Ganna Serhiivna Rizatdinova is a Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. In the all-around event, she is the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World All-around medalist, and a two-time European All-around bronze medalist.
Margarita Mamun is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast of Bangladeshi-Russian descent. She is the 2016 Olympic All-around champion, two-time World All-around silver medalist, the 2015 European Games All-around silver medalist, the 2016 European Championships All-around silver medalist, three-time Grand Prix Final All-around champion and a three-time (2011–2013) Russian National All-around champion.
Marina Sergeyevna Durunda is a retired Ukrainian-born Azerbaijani individual rhythmic gymnast.
Daria Dmitrievna Svatkovskaya is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2012 Russian National All-around silver medalist. She retired in August 2014, due to a serious back injury.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup is a competition for rhythmic gymnastics sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the few tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the World Championships, the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games and the Youth Olympics, and the rhythmic gymnastics events at the World Games. The World Cup series should not be confused with the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix series, which is neither officially organized nor promoted by FIG.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix circuit is an annual competition of tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics open to gymnasts from all over the globe. The series consists of a number of stages in different countries in Europe. The Grand Prix circuit usually hosts some of the most watched yearly events in rhythmic gymnastics, frequently gathering some of the best gymnasts in the world. Each Grand Prix stage is held as an all-around qualification competition, followed by four apparatus finals with hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. The final event in the circuit is commonly referred to as Grand Prix Final. The focus in each stage is on individual performances, though groups have also been allowed to compete in some stages since, at least, 1995. The Grand Prix circuit should not be confused with the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series, which is a competition officially organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), whereas the Grand Prix is neither organized nor promoted by FIG.
Lala Yusifova is a retired Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast.
Viktoria Oleksiivna Mazur is a retired Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast who competed in individual and group rhythmic gymnastics.
Salome Pazhava is a former Georgian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is Georgia's most successful rhythmic gymnast after Irina Gabashvili. She finished 4th in All-around at the 2015 World Championships.
Arina Alekseyevna Averina is a Russian former individual rhythmic gymnast. She was a 2020 Summer Olympics finalist, a two-time world all-around silver medalist, a two-time European all-around champion and the 2016 Grand Prix Final all-around bronze medalist. She was a three-time (2019–2021) Russian national all-around champion and a three-time Russian national all-around medalist. Her identical twin sister Dina Averina is also a competitive 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.
Zhala Piriyeva is an Azerbaijani individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Azeri National champion and three-time (2013-2015) junior Azerbaijani national champion.
FIG World Cup refers to a number of events organized by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) across seven competitive gymnastics disciplines: 1) acrobatic gymnastics, 2) aerobic gymnastics, 3) men's artistic gymnastics, 4) women's artistic gymnastics, 5) women's rhythmic gymnastics, 6) trampoline and tumbling, and 7) parkour.
Nicol Zelikman is a former Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a two-time medalist at the 2016 European Junior Championships.
Stiliana Nikolova is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2024 European all-around champion, the 2022 World all-around bronze medalist and hoop, clubs, and ribbon silver medalist, the 2023 World ball bronze medalist and team competition champion, and a two-time European all-around bronze medalist and champion in the team competition. At the national level, she is a two-time national champion and the 2022 national all-around silver medalist. She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where she came in 11th place.