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.
Annika Louise Reeder is a retired British artistic gymnast. She was the first gymnast from Great Britain to compete in two Olympic Games, in 1996 and 2000.
Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina is an Uzbekistani artistic gymnast.
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".
Yanina "Yana" Farkhadovna Batyrshina is a former individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for Russia. She is the 1996 Olympics All-around silver medalist, two time (1995,1997) World All-around bronze medalist, two-time European All-around silver medalist, the 1998 European All-around bronze medalist and 1996 Grand Prix Final All-around champion.
Asha Solette Philip is an English sprinter and former junior gymnast specialising in double mini-trampoline. She was the first British woman to achieve a global 100 metres title at any age-group, winning gold at the 2007 World Youth Championships aged 16. Following a serious knee injury in gymnastics, and a rehabilitation period of several years, she returned to athletics full-time in 2014, winning gold at the European Athletics Championships in the 4 x 100 metres relay for Great Britain, and bronze in the same event at the Commonwealth Games for England.
Alina Oleksandrivna Maksymenko is a retired individual rhythmic gymnast.
Sam Joshua Oldham is a retired English artistic gymnast who represented Great Britain. He was part of the British men's team at the 2012 Summer Olympics that won bronze in the team competition. He is also a three-time junior European champion and won individual horizontal bar gold at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore.
Max Antony Whitlock is a British artistic gymnast. With fourteen medals and six titles in Olympic and world championships, Whitlock is the most successful gymnast in his nation's history, and the most successful pommel horse worker in gymnastics history; he has 8 global medals in the apparatus, including 5 global gold medals. He is a six-time Olympic medalist, winning three golds and three bronzes, and a five time world medalist on the pommel horse with three gold and two silvers.
Carolina Rodríguez Ballesteros is a retired Spanish rhythmic gymnast. She is a veteran of the sport who started her senior career in the early 2000s. She competed in three Olympic cycles: at the 2004 Athens where she was member of the Spanish group, at the 2012 London competing as an individual gymnast where she finished 14th in all-around qualifications and at the 2016 Rio competing again as an individual, finishing in 8th in the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around final.
Neta Rivkin is a retired Israeli individual rhythmic gymnast.
Adriana Dunavska is a Bulgarian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1988 Olympic All-around silver medallist, 1987 World All-around silver medallist, 1989 World All-around bronze medallist and the 1988 European All-around champion. She also won a gold medal at the 1987 World Championships with the rope. Her twin sister, Kamelia Dunavska was also a competitive rhythmic gymnast.
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.
Jana Berezko-Marggrander is a German retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2010 Youth Olympic all-around bronze medalist.
Yasmine Mohmed Abdulmagid Rostom is an Egyptian Olympic rhythmic gymnast.
Claudia Fragapane is a British artistic gymnast. She came to prominence at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she was the first English woman to win four gold medals in a single Games since 1930. In 2015, Fragapane was part of the women's gymnastics team that won Great Britain's first-ever team medal, a bronze, at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, before winning an individual world championship bronze on floor two years later.
Stephani Anne Sherlock is a British individual rhythmic gymnast who has represented England and Great Britain at international competitions.
Pooja Surve is an Indian individual rhythmic gymnast. She represents India at international competitions. She competed at world championships, including at the 2009 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, Japan. In 2010, she was the only gymnast from India to be in the top 16 at the 2010 Commonwealth Games; she won Miss Exotic Performance award in World Cup Belarus 2010, becoming the first Indian to ever get this award; and she also participated in the 2010 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, held in Moscow.
Rachel Stoyanov is a Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast. She formerly represented North Macedonia in individual competition until 2021, when she joined the Bulgarian group. In 2022 she won gold medal with The Bulgarian team in All-around at the world championship in Sofia and become a World Champion. She won gold medal in the finals with 3 ribbons+2 balls. She is the European all-around champion and team champion with the Bulgarian team in 2023, as well as a silver medalist in the 5-hoop final. She is European champion with the Bulgarian team event of the 2022 European Championships in Tel Aviv.
Marfa Ekimova is a Russian born British rhythmic gymnast. She s the 2022 Commonwealth Games All-Around champion.
United Kingdom