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.
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 1996 Summer Olympics, two different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Georgia Dome from July 20–25 and July 28–29. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at Stegeman Coliseum in nearby Athens, on the campus of the University of Georgia from August 1–4.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, three gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium on August 9–19. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium on August 21–24. The trampoline events were also held at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium on August 16–19.
Lauren Stephanie Mitchell is an Australian former artistic gymnast. She is the 2010 World champion on the floor exercise and the 2009 World Championships silver medalist on the balance beam and floor exercise. Mitchell is only the second Australian female gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships, and she is the first to win a gold medal. She is the 2010 Commonwealth Games champion in the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam, and with the Australian team, and she is the 2008 World Cup Final balance beam champion. She also represented Australia at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Ashleigh Jade Brennan is an Australian former gymnast who was on the Australia Gymnastics Artistic Women's National Team. She participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the team event. She won a pair of team gold medals in the Commonwealth Games at the 2006 and 2010 Games. She won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and a bronze in 2010. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is also the sister of star Berwick footballer, Tom Brennan.
Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva OMF is a retired 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".
Elsabeth Ann Black is a Canadian artistic gymnast. She is a four-time Olympian, having represented her country at the 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympic games. She is the 2017 World all-around silver medallist, 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.
Janine Murray is a Zimbabwean born Australian rhythmic gymnast. She won a gold medal in the team event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Dipa Karmakar is an Indian gymnast from Tripura. She is the first female gymnast from India to compete in the Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the vault event final, she finished in 4th place.
Akshata Shete is a national level champion in rhythmic gymnastics from India. She participated in World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships 2009 held at Ise Mie, Japan from 7–13 September 2009 and scored the highest amongst the Indian Team at FIG World Cup Event held at Belarus, Minsk from 21 – 23 May 2010. Later on she captained Indian team and scored the highest in the team at the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, held at Moscow, Russia from 20–26 September 2010. She represented India at the Commonwealth Games 2010,Delhi. She has won in total 47 Golds, 40 Silvers and 30 Bronze medals and retired in 2012. She made a Guinness World Record for most hula hoop rotations with the leg in the arabesque position in one minute, the record was made on 21 March 2011 on the set of Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega in Mumbai. She was awarded the "Shiv Chhatrapati Krida Puraskar" in March 2011 by the Government of Maharashtra and is the Director for Rhythmic gymnastics at RG BPCA Rhythmic Club in Mumbai since 2014. She has judged Several National and International level competition as a judge for gymnastics on several occasions.
Pooja Sahasrabudhe is an Indian International table tennis player from Thane, Maharashtra. She comes from a humble middle-class background, and was born and brought up in Thane, Maharashtra. She took to Table tennis at the age of 9 in the year 2000 and showed keen interest and great talent in the sport. Her coach Mrs. Shailaja Gohad at the Boosters TT Academy, was quick to notice this and it was under her guidance that Pooja groomed as a player. She started representing India at a very young age. Pooja did her schooling and graduation from Thane and was absorbed by ONGC in the year 2010. Pooja recently got married and moved to Pune, India where she continues to train under the guidance of Mr. Rohit Chaudhary - a Shiv Chatrapatee Awardee and her husband Mr. Aniket Koparkar - an ex-international himself.
Danielle Mia Prince is an Australian rhythmic gymnast. She is a five time Australian National All-around champion.
Aimee Van Rooyen is a South African individual rhythmic gymnast. She represents her nation at international competitions. She competed at world championships, including at the 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. She was selected for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.
Palak Kour Bijral is an Indian individual rhythmic gymnast. She represents her nation at international competitions. She competed at world championships, including at the 2013 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. In 2014 she competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Kshipra Joshi is a former Indian rhythmic gymnast who competed in the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships as well as in the 2010 commonwealth games for India. Kshipra now a coach at Premier rhythmic gymnastics academy. She is also recognised as an International level judge by the International Gymnastics Federation. She made and holds a Guinness World Record for 18 rotations in a '180-degree balance position' in one minute, the record was made on 21 March 2011 on the set of Guinness World Records - Ab India Todega in Mumbai. She was awarded the "Shiv Chhatrapati Krida Puraskar" in March 2011 by the Government of Maharashtra.
Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva is an Australian rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games clubs champion, team silver medallist, and all-around bronze medallist. She also won two bronze medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She is a four-time Australian all-around champion. She won five bronze medals at the 2022 Maccabiah Games and has competed at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships five times.
Anna-Marie Suzanne Quint Ondaatje also simply known as Anna-Marie Ondaatje is a Canadian born female rhythmic gymnast of Sri Lankan descent. She has competed in national level competitions in Canada and has represented both Canada and then switched to compete for Sri Lanka in international gymnastics events. She became the first rhythmic gymnast to represent Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games after creating history for the nation at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was also named as one of just four female gymnasts from Sri Lanka to represent at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Pranati Nayak is an Indian artistic gymnast. She is the 2019 Asian Championships vault bronze medalist. She is the third Indian gymnast to win an international medal on the vault, after Dipa Karmakar and Aruna Reddy. She represented India at the 2020 Summer Olympics and is only the second Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games. She is also the 2019 Indian all-around champion. She represented India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games. She also competed at the 2014, 2017, and 2019 World Championships.
Marfa Ekimova is a Russian-born British rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games all-around champion and the two-time British national champion.
