Honored Master of Sports of Russia.
Born on January 23, 1990 in Naberezhnye Chelny.
From the age of three she studied artistic gymnastics with coach Svetlana Alekseevna Lebedinskaya.
Since 1996, she began practicing rhythmic gymnastics in Rostov-on-Don with the Honored Trainer of Russia Adele Vladimirovna Esipova. And then in Moscow at the Olympic Training Center with the country's leading coaches Zlata and Olga Tulubaev, Amina Zaripova, Irina Zenovka, Natalia Orlova.
In 2005, she joined the national team of the country, where she trained with Honored Trainers of Russia - Irina Aleksandrovna Viner and Valentina Alekseevna Ivanitskaya.
In 2007, she won three zloty medals at the World Group Exercise Championships.
In 2008, she won two gold medals at the European Championships in group exercises.
Winner of the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) in group exercises.
She played for the sports associations “Youth of Russia” (Rostov-on-Don) and MGFSO (Moscow).
Awarded the Order of Friendship.
In 2007, she graduated with honors from the Special Sports School of the Olympic Reserve No. 1 in Moscow.
In 2008 she completed her sports career.
Now he studies at the Southern Federal University at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports, as well as at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov at the Faculty of Public Administration.
Works as a leading specialist of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics.

Donskova Ulyana Vyacheslavovna

Member of the Russian national rhythmic gymnastics team in group all-around since 2006. Multiple European and world champion. Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2010). 2012 Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics in group all-around. At the age of five, her father brought Ulyana to the city Sports School No. 23 and put her in the hands of coach Alla Petrovna Matrosova. At a young age she graduated from MBOU Secondary School No. 14.

Donskova was the captain of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team in the group all-around. As a member of the national team, she participated in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. After winning the Olympics, Ulyana Donskova ended her sports career.

Ulyana is a student at the National State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Health named after P. F. Lesgaft, St. Petersburg.

Kondakova Daria Vladimirovna

Honored Master of Sports
Born and lived in Sochi.
She started training at the age of 7 with Elena Lagun. Then she studied with Natalia Razgonyuk for a long time.
She moved to Dmitrov, Moscow region, with her family in 2005.
She trains with Anna Shumilova and Honored Trainer of Russia I. Wiener.
Member of the Russian national team since 2005

Silver medalist of the World Championships 2009, 2010, 2011
Multiple World Champion in team competition and individual all-around events

European champion 2011 in team competition

Silver medal at the 2011 European Championships in hoop exercise

Silver medal at the 2011 European Championships in the ribbon exercise

European champion among juniors 2006

Multiple winner of World Cup stages and Grand Prix tournaments.

Utyasheva Laysan Albertovna

Honored Master of Sports.
Repeated winner of World Cup stages in various all-around events.
Silver medalist of the World Games in exercises with a skipping rope, ball, clubs (2001 Akita).
European champion in the team competition (2002 Granada).
Winner of international tournaments.
Russian champion in exercises with a skipping rope and hoop. Silver medalist in all-around.

Zaripova Amina Vasilovna

Honored Master of Sports.
Bronze medalist at the 1993 World Championships. in the all-around Alicante.
Silver medalist at the 1995 World Championships in all-around in Paris.
Absolute winner of the III Goodwill Games 1994 Saint Petersburg.
4th place in all-around at the XXVI Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Two-time absolute champion of Russia (1994-1995).

Sesina Vera Valerievna

Honored Master of Sports,
Repeated world and European champion in the team competition and in individual all-around events.
Absolute European champion 2006
She completed her sports career in 2009.

Kapranova Olga Sergeevna

Honored Master of Sports,
Absolute world champion 2005
Repeated world and European champion in the team competition and in individual all-around events.
Fourth place in the individual championship at the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing.

Kostina Oksana Alexandrovna

Honored Master of Sports,
Absolute world champion 1992 in Brussels. Won 5 out of 5 gold medals.
Repeated world and European champion in the team competition and in individual all-around events.
Absolute winner of the X-year (last) Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR.
Tragically died in a car accident on February 11, 1993.

Dmitrieva Daria Andreevna

Winner of the silver medal at the Games of the XXX Olympiad 2012. in London.

Honored Master of Sports.

World Champion 2009, 2010, 2011 in the team competition.

European champion 2011 in the team competition.

Champion of the 2011 Universiade in the ribbon exercise.

Bronze medalist at the 2011 European Championships in the ball exercise.

Silver medalist at the 2011 Universiade in the ball exercise and all-around.

World Champion 2010 in the exercise with ribbon.

Silver medalist at the 2010 World Championship in ball exercise.

Absolute Champion of Russia 2010

European Junior Champion 2008

Winner of the international tournaments “Children of Asia” and “Deriugina Cup”.

Lipkovskaya Natalya Viktorovna

Since childhood, Natalya trained with Irina Krivtsova, then with Olga Bulert. In the late 80s, the girl was noticed by the Honored Trainer of Russia Olga Kukushkina. Since the early 90s. Natalia trained with the Honored Trainer of the USSR and Russia Olga Buyanova, and since 1996 with the Honored Trainer of Russia Irina Viner.

Natalya has been a member of the Russian Federation national rhythmic gymnastics team since 1993. During the period of her complex, long and amazingly beautiful career, Natalya won many titles, awards and prizes at various championships and competitions in rhythmic gymnastics. Among Natalya’s most outstanding achievements are the World Championships in Berlin in 1997, when Natalya won 5 medals at once, two of which were silver, including one won in the all-around, and the other for an exercise with a ribbon, two bronze ones for exercises with a skipping rope and clubs and one gold for the hoop exercise, in which she beat her closest rival, Elena Vitrichenko, receiving 10 points for execution and technical elements. For the first time at an international start, Natalya showed herself in 1995 at the 1995 World Championships in Vienna, then the young gymnast took 6th positions in exercises with a rope and clubs.

Natalya is a multiple medalist and winner of European and Russian championships, as well as the finals of individual cups of rhythmic gymnastics championships.

Natalia completed her sports career in 1999.

Chashchina Irina Viktorovna

Honored Master of Sports,
Silver medalist of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad 2004 in Athens.
Repeated world and European champion in the team competition and in individual all-around events.
Two-time absolute champion of Russia (2003 and 2005)

Batyrshina Yanina Farkhadovna

Honored Master of Sports,
Silver medalist of the XXVI Olympiad in Atlanta.
Repeated world and European champion in the team competition and in individual all-around events.
Two-time absolute champion of Russia (1996 and 1998).
She was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree.

Barsukova Yulia Vladimirovna

Honored Master of Sports,
Winner of the Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000 in Sydney.
Repeated champion of Russia, the world and Europe in the team competition and in individual all-around events.
Knight of the Order of Honor.

Kanaeva Evgenia Olegovna

The first ever two-time Olympic champion in the individual all-around.

Three-time absolute world champion, winner of 14 World Championship gold medals in non-Olympic events.

Three-time absolute European champion, winner of 10 European Championship gold medals in non-Olympic events.

Multiple absolute Champion of Russia.

Two-time absolute winner of the World Universiade, winner of 7 gold medals at the University in non-Olympic events.

Winner of the World Games.

Multiple winner of the World Cup and Grand Prix tournaments.

Kabaeva Alina Maratovna

Honored Master of Sports,

Winner of the XXVIII Olympic Games 2004 in Athens.

Bronze medalist of the XXVII Olympic Games 2000 in Sydney.

Two-time absolute world champion (1999 and 2003).

Five-time absolute European champion (1998-2000, 2002, 2004).

Six-time absolute champion of Russia (1999-2001, 2004, 2006, 2007).

Knight of the Order of Friendship, “For Services to the Fatherland”, IV degree.

She was a deputy of the State Duma until September 2014.

Here are the absolute champions in artistic gymnastics over the past 30 years.

Alexander Dityatin

Alexander Nikolaevich was born in Leningrad on August 7, 1957. He is a three-time Olympic champion, seven-time world champion, one of the best gymnasts of all time. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.

Seven-time world champion in 1979 and 1981. Two-time European champion in 1979. Multiple champion of the Spartakiads of the peoples of the USSR. The only gymnast in the world who has medals in all evaluated exercises at one Games: at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 he won 3 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze medals. With this result, he entered the Guinness Book of Records. He played for Dynamo Leningrad.

But three years later, shortly after the Moscow Olympics, he received a ridiculous but serious injury - a dislocated ankle. Alexander continued to perform for some time and even won awards at major international competitions. In November 1981, Dityatin entered (already as captain) onto the platform of the next World Championship, which took place in Moscow, at the Olimpiysky sports complex. Alexander said: “I will do everything for the team to win.” And did. The Soviet team again became the best in the world, and Dityatin himself won 2 more gold medals - in exercises on the rings and on the uneven bars. After finishing his career as an athlete, he became a coach, working until 1995.

Koji Gushiken

Japanese gymnast, Olympic champion and world champion, born November 12, 1956 in Osaka, graduated from the Japan University of Physical Education. In 1979 he won silver and bronze medals at the World Championships. In 1980, due to a boycott organized by Western countries, he was unable to take part in the Olympic Games in Moscow, but in 1981, at the World Championships held in Moscow, he won gold, silver and two bronze medals.

At the 1983 World Championships he won gold, silver and bronze medals. In 1984, at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, he won two gold, silver and two bronze medals. In 1985 he won a bronze medal at the World Championships; that same year he announced his retirement from sports.

Vladimir Artyomov

Vladimir Nikolaevich was born in Vladimir on December 7, 1964. He is a four-time Olympic champion and one of the best gymnasts of all time. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. He graduated from the Vladimir State Pedagogical Institute, where he later taught. He spoke for the local VDFSO trade union “Burevestnik”.

World champion in the team championship (1985, 1987 and 1989), in the uneven bars (1983, 1987 and 1989), silver medalist in the all-around (1985), in the team championship (1983), in floor exercise (1987 and 1989), in exercises on the horizontal bar (1989). Absolute champion of the USSR (1984). In 1990 he left for the USA, where he currently lives in Pennsylvania.

Vitaly Shcherbo

Vitaly was born in Minsk on January 13, 1972. He is a six-time Olympic champion in 1992 (the only non-swimmer in history to win 6 gold medals at one Games), one of the best gymnasts of all time (the only man to become world champion in all 8 disciplines - individual and team championships, as well as in all 6 shells). Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Honored Master of Sports of the Republic of Belarus.

Scherbo ended his sports career in 1997 after breaking his arm due to a fall from a motorcycle. Currently, Vitaly lives in Las Vegas, where he opened his gym “Vitaly Scherbo School of Gymnastics”

Li Xiaoshuang

His name literally means “the younger of the pair” - he is the younger twin brother of another Chinese gymnast, Li Dashuang. The brothers were born on November 1, 1973 in Xiantao, Hubei Province.

From the age of 6 he began to engage in gymnastics, in 1983 he joined the provincial team, in 1985 - in the national team, then due to an injury he returned to the provincial team, in 1988 he again joined the national team, then returned to the provincial team again, and in 1989 he became a member of the national team for the third time.

At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​he won a gold medal in the floor exercise and a bronze medal in the rings exercise (as well as a silver medal as part of the team). In 1994, at the Asian Games, he won gold medals in the floor exercise and all-around, silver in the rings exercise, bronze in the pommel horse and uneven bars (as well as gold as part of the team); In addition, in 1994, Li Xiaoshuang won a gold medal at the World Team Championship and a silver medal (in vault) at the individual World Championship. In 1995, he won a gold medal at the World Championships in the all-around, and a silver medal in the floor exercise (as well as a gold medal as part of the team). At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Li Xiaoshuang won a gold medal in the all-around and a silver medal in the floor exercise (as well as a silver medal as a member of the team). In 1997 he completed his sports career.

Alexey Nemov

Alexey Yurievich Nemov - Russian gymnast, 4-time Olympic champion, reserve colonel of the Russian Armed Forces, editor-in-chief of the Bolshoy Sport magazine, born on May 28, 1976 in Mordovia.

Alexey began gymnastics at the age of five at the specialized children's and youth school of the Olympic reserve of the Volzhsky Automobile Plant in the city of Tolyatti. Studied at school 76.

Alexey Nemov won his first victory in 1989 at the USSR youth championship. After a successful start, he began to achieve outstanding results almost every year. In 1990, Alexey Nemov became the winner in certain types of all-around at the USSR Student Youth Spartakiad. In 1990-1993, he was a repeated participant in international competitions and a winner both in certain types of programs and in the absolute championship.

In 1993, Nemov won the RSFSR Cup in the all-around, and at the international meeting “Stars of the World 94” he became a bronze medalist in the all-around. A year later, Alexey Nemov wins the Russian Championship, becomes a four-time champion of the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg and receives three gold and one silver medal at the European Championship in Italy.

At the XXVI Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA), Alexey Nemov becomes a two-time Olympic champion, receiving two gold, one silver and three bronze medals. In 1997, he won a gold medal at the World Championships in Switzerland. In 2000, Alexey Nemov won the World and European Championships and became a World Cup winner. At the XXVII Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia), Alexey became the absolute champion, winning six Olympic medals: two gold, one silver and three bronze.

Nemov arrived at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens as a clear favorite and leader of the Russian team, despite the injury received before the competition, showing high class, confidence in execution and complexity of the programs. However, his performance on the horizontal bar with the most difficult elements (including 6 flights, including a combination of three flights by Tkachev and a flight by Ginger) was overshadowed by a scandal. The judges gave clearly underestimated scores (especially the judge from Malaysia, who gave only 9.6 points), the average was 9.725. After this, the indignant spectators in the hall, standing for 15 minutes, protested against the judges’ decision with incessant screams, roars and whistles and supported the athlete with applause, not allowing the next athlete to go on the platform. Confused, the judges and the technical committee of the FIG changed the scores for the first time in the history of gymnastics, setting the average slightly higher - 9.762, but still depriving Nemov of a medal. The public continued to be indignant and stopped protesting only when Alexey himself came out and asked the audience to calm down. After this incident, some judges were removed from judging, an official apology was made to the athlete, and revolutionary changes were made to the rules (in addition to the technique score, a difficulty score was introduced, which took into account each element separately, as well as connections between individual complex elements).

Here is this scandalous case:

Paul Hamm

Paul Elbert Hamm was born on September 24, 1982 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA.

Olympic champion and two-time Olympic medalist. Two-time world champion and three-time world championship medalist.

Hamm became the first US gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal in the all-around competition. However, the American's success at the Games in Athens was overshadowed by a refereeing scandal. The fact is that the gymnast from South Korea, Yang Tae Yun, who was the leader in the Olympic competitions, was unfairly underestimated for his performances on the uneven bars. The referees' error was recognized, but the results of the competition were not revised.

Yang Wei

Yang Wei was born on February 8, 1980 in Xiantao, Hubei Province. Yang is a Chinese gymnast, multiple world champion and Olympic champion.

On August 14, 2008, Yang Wei won gold at the Beijing Olympics with 94.575 points. After finishing his performance, he shouted into the camera lens: “I miss you!” He addressed these words to his fiancee, former gymnast Yang Yun. After the 2008 Olympic Games, Yang Wei ended his sports career, and he wanted to give the gold medal to his fiancee as a gift.

Unfortunately, there is very little information about Yan Wei on the RuNet. If there are any gymnastics experts among the readers, we will be grateful for the addition.

Kohei was born on January 3, 1989 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. He is the 2012 Olympic champion in the absolute championship, a four-time vice-champion of the Olympic Games, and a seven-time world champion.

He is famous for being the first gymnast to win the all-around at all major competitions in one Olympic cycle, including the all-around at the Olympics. He also became famous for performing difficult exercises with incredible precision. His skills were praised by International Gymnast Magazine as "a combination of great complexity, consistency and extreme elegance of execution."

In October 2014, Uchimura, speaking at the World Championships in Nanning, China, again beat his rivals in the men's all-around with a score of 91.965, breaking away from his closest pursuer Max Whitlock by 1.492 points. Kohei sets a new personal record - five-time absolute world champion in men's all-around. Uchimura also wins two silver medals: in the team all-around final, and in a separate gymnastic all-around event - on the horizontal bar.

Read on Zozhnik:

June 11, 2017, 11:41 pm

In my last post, many people wanted to know more about our wonderful artists. So who is the number one of the national team now?

Personalities

Alexandra Soldatova.

Alexandra Sergeevna Soldatova(born June 1, 1998) - Russian gymnast, member of the Russian national team, two-time world champion in the team event (2014, 2015), two-time European champion in the team event (2015,2017), Russian champion in the individual all-around (2016), bronze medalist in the all-around championship of Russia in rhythmic gymnasium (2014).

Programs 2017.

Hoop:

In my opinion, this is Sasha’s most beautiful exercise. I think many people remember the beautiful Yulia Barsukova at the 2000 Olympics, and now, 17 years later, a new wonderful swan appears in the world of gymnastics.

Sasha is often called the most flexible gymnast in the country.

Crown element

Alexandra went to the Olympics in Rio as a reserve

Sasha is trained by Anna Vyacheslavovna Dyachenko (Shumilova)

Excerpts from the interview

Without perseverance, hard work and patience, one does not become a champion. Your coach Anna Dyachenko said that there was a time when you and she drove from Dmitrov by car to Novogorsk every morning and you slept in the back seat. This is true?

Yes. I didn’t start living and training in Novogorsk right away; I had to leave Dmitrov early in the morning to get to Novogorsk on time. Anna Vyacheslavovna put me in the back seat, I had a pillow there, I fell asleep on the way and woke up already at the entrance to the gate of the base. But it's okay, these are minor things. If you want to achieve something, you will have to deny yourself a lot and be patient.

Sasha, why rhythmic gymnastics? This is love at first sight?

No. It turned out really funny. In Sterlitamak, where I’m from, my mother brought... my brother to the rhythmic gymnastics section to sign up. We simply didn’t know then that gymnastics can be different - sports and artistic. We were told that where they wanted to send my brother, everything was only for girls, then my mother was not at a loss and said: “I have a girl too, take it!” I don’t remember my first training sessions; I was little; the awareness of gymnastics came to me only when I was already in third grade.

You have excellent physical data for gymnastics, I can assume that everything worked out the first time?

Far from it. I agree that I have flexibility, stretch, and good feet, but for example, I lack dexterity. Dina and Arina Averina, in terms of working with the subject, are stronger than me, they are like that by nature.

Which subject is more difficult for you?

I can’t say that some are more difficult and some are easier. I'm still at the stage of perfecting my skills and comprehending something new.

To get into the Russian national team, you have come a long way. Sterlitamak - Dmitrov - Novogorsk.

They forgot Pushkino! From Sterlitamak my family moved to Pushkino, from there I ended up in Dmitrov, where I waited with bated breath... for me to be sent back to Pushkino. First training, second, week, second, third, and then they told me: “You stay here!” My emotion was lightning fast, but meager: “Yes. Good!” I’ll say right away that I didn’t experience any longing for my mother and family, as many girls do at the age of 12. I calmly accepted the fact that I would live separately from my parents and without their care. She was independent!

First meeting with your coach Anna Dyachenko. Did you expect to fall under her care?

I didn’t expect it, but from the first day we had a wonderful duet. From the first day, I caught her every remark. The girls and I even competed to see who would stand closest to her during training, who would be the first to ask about something, who would write or call her. She is wonderful in every way!

Sasha, how did you get to the training camp with Irina Viner?

It didn’t happen to me that I somehow unexpectedly saw Irina Alexandrovna at a training session or she unexpectedly came to the gym, and there I was. She knows who trains with her. We came to the training camp, I saw how Irina Aleksandrovna worked with other gymnasts, how she communicated. Then, when she became part of the Russian national team, she began to pay more attention to me and, naturally, there was more communication. Irina Aleksandrovna is a strict and very attentive mentor.

Photoshoot:

Arina and Dina Averina

Arina.

Arina Alekseevna Averina August 13, 1998 - Trans-Volga region) - Russian rhythmic gymnast, member of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team, International Master of Sports. Multiple winner and prize-winner of all-Russian and international tournaments, three-time European champion.

Programs

Dina

Dina Alekseevna Averina(August 13, 1998 - Trans-Volga region) - Russian rhythmic gymnast, member of the Russian gymnastics team, Three-time European Champion 2017, Absolute Champion of Russia 2017, Master of Sports of international class. Multiple winner and prize-winner of all-Russian and international tournaments.

Programs

Joint demonstration

Dina in pink, Arina in blue

The sisters are trained by Vera Nikolaevna Shatalina. She also trained Alina Kabaeva.

Excerpt from interview with Irina Alexandrovna Viner-Usmanova:

Can we say that in some places Dina and Arina even exceeded their capabilities, in others they surprised us with their results?

The fact is that Dina and Arina were, as we say, “stunt performers” from an early age, and now the program is such that all this counts. Previously, we also had very strong girls, and Alina Kabaeva did amazing things, but not everything counted. Therefore, their time has come. But they lacked a little feeling, lacked expressiveness, they did it all like a thread. And now they do it expressively, they try to make all the exercises very “characteristic” and these movements, tricks, these risks, these interesting masterful elements merge with the music. So that they organically emphasize it, and in Budapest they succeeded.

Arina Dina

private photos

With parents and older sister Polina

Dina on the left, Arina on the right

Together with the team doctor - Dmitry Ubogov

Arina on the right, Dina on the left

Dina, Arina, sister Polina, mother Ksenia
Arina on the right, Dina on the left

Arina Dina

The girls dreamed of standing in group exercises, but due to their short stature they were not accepted.

Arina on the left, Dina on the right

Photoshoot

Group exercises

(Anastasia Bliznyuk, Anastasia Tatareva, Anastasia Maksimova, Maria Tolkacheva, Vera Biryukova - Rio 2016)

Programs

3 balls + 2 jump ropes

5 hoops

Now it’s difficult to talk about the main composition, since it is constantly changing. But most often the following gymnasts are included.

Anastasia Bliznyuk

Anastasia Ilyinichna Bliznyuk(born June 28, 1994, Zaporozhe, Ukraine) - Russian gymnast. Two-time Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics in group all-around (2012, 2016); world and European champion.

Nastya returned to sports after a serious illness - leptospirosis.

The whole country was worried when you got sick, you found yourself in a difficult situation. How did you manage to continue your career?
“I didn’t even know I was so seriously ill.” My kidneys failed...Irina Aleksandrovna Wiener treated me in Germany. At first they said that perhaps the kidneys would not start. There is very little chance that I will always live on dialysis.

But thank God I recovered. And she started working in Novogorsk as a second-team coach. Somehow it turned out that I decided to lose weight and get in shape. And this grew into the training process.

I got into the second team. I proved to everyone that I can and want to. I will stand on this team! And made it to the main team.

In general, there is a lot of competition in Russia. Only when it was the last week before the Olympics did I realize that I would compete in Rio. Every start is a very big struggle. If you make any mistake even during training, they will remove you at any moment. It doesn’t matter that I was an Olympic champion and that the girls won the World Championships. The road started from scratch

More excerpts from the interview:

Nastya! You are the second two-time Olympic champion in the group in our history. There was also London gold.
- Third – there are also Elena Posevina and Natalya Lavrova... Of course, I am incredibly happy and grateful to Irina Aleksandrovna Viner for this victory. I was able to overcome myself, recover from illness, and return with faith in my strengths and capabilities. Thanks to the whole team who helped a lot. This road was extremely difficult. But when you realize that you did everything, the taste of victory becomes the sweetest.

- And for five Olympics in a row we take two golds in rhythmic gymnastics.
- I think that only Irina Alexandrovna. Everything rests on Wiener.

For me she is like a mother. Because she saved my life when I got sick. I was born again! And they gave me the chance to perform in Rio.

- How to prepare yourself mentally for the new Olympic cycle?
- You know why you are doing this. But our training is insanely hard. And this medal was more difficult for me than the first one. Apparently I was younger then. And now I thought: “Maybe I can still do this? Maybe that's not all?

I left gymnastics in 2013 after the World Championships. Now she's back. And I think: “But I can do more!”

Photoshoot

Anastasia Tatareva

Anastasia Alekseevna Tatareva(born July 19, 1997) - Russian gymnast. Olympic champion (2016). Honored Master of Sports of Russia. World and European champion.

Excerpts from the interview

– The life of gymnasts is very short. Many people have only one Olympics, and then they have to end their career... Doesn’t this scare you?
– Life is beautiful, and there are so many interesting things in it! I'm not afraid that I'll have to say goodbye to sports. This is fine. I study at the university - at the correspondence department of the Institute of International Relations. So this is probably what I will do later. Life will show.

- Interesting choice. Perhaps you speak a foreign language well?
- English. Not bad, but I need to learn more - that’s what I’ll do. There is a lot of language practice at competitions!

– Do you still have time to study?
- All my energy goes into training. Especially when preparing for competitions. We have to study on Skype... And they send us assignments, we complete them and send them back.

– Teachers don’t give discounts, don’t they simplify the task?
- No. And who am I to make my task easier? (laughs).

– You compete in the team all-around. Don't want to go into private view?
– By the way, I started in the personal. Then they invited me to join the team... No, I don’t want to - I like it better on a team - here, of course, there is greater responsibility. But you feel that we are together. There is something called “team spirit”. We have a very friendly team. If we quarrel, it’s rare. And we quickly make up.

– Do you know that you are compared on forums with Alina Kabaeva?
- I have not heard about that! It seems to me that we are completely different. I’m not like her... I think you need to remain yourself, not strive to be like others.

Photoshoot:

private photos

Vera Biryukova

Vera Leonidovna Biryukova(born April 11, 1998 - Omsk) - Russian gymnast. Member of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team. Master of Sports of Russia of international class. Champion of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Honored Master of Sports. European champion.

Interview

Vera Biryukova “burst” into the Rio Olympics with the speed of a meteor and almost at the last moment. Even a month and a half before the Games, neither numerous fans of rhythmic gymnastics, nor the Omsk “artist” herself even thought about such a development of events.

“If I had any hopes of getting into the main team, then a couple of months before the Olympics they almost disappeared,” says Vera. “I worked calmly in the second team, trained and didn’t really count on anything. Judge for yourself: there is nothing left before the Games, who will make changes to the existing group? But it turned out that one of the girls was injured, and the coaches decided to try me. And you know, it turned out well. Even Irina Aleksandrovna Viner praised me. She said, almost imperceptibly, that a new person had joined the group. “You’ll go to Kazan, and we’ll see there,” were her words. There were only two starts left before the Olympic Games: the World Cup stages in Kazan and Baku. To be honest, I thought that after Kazan I would be removed from the team. But this did not happen either after Kazan or after Baku! But I was able to believe that I was going to Rio only on the plane flying to Brazil.

- Did you manage to have a good rest after the Games?
- Yes, the whole team sent us to the sea, we vacationed in Sardinia, it was great. Then each went to their hometown. I also enjoyed spending a week at home.
- Did you remember with your mother how it all began?
- From the sea and Turkey! We rested there, and my mother only had time to make sure that I didn’t climb where I shouldn’t. The energy was overflowing! Well, I always loved to dance, I “bent” in all directions. Then my mother suggested that I try gymnastics. I immediately agreed, although I actually had no idea what it was! Maybe I saw it on TV a couple of times. When we returned home, my mother brought me into the hall. And that’s how I started training at the age of five. My mother said that parents were not allowed to attend training so that the children would not be distracted. But she managed to peek out the window. He says I always tried, I didn’t slack. I trained conscientiously, even if the coach left the gym. Although I myself don’t remember that time well.

- And the first medal?
-I remember. At school competitions I shared first place with another girl.

- You once mentioned that as a child, your idol in gymnastics was Laysan Utyasheva. But Omsk residents traditionally call Irina Chashchina, Evgenia Kanaeva...
- Irina and Evgenia are great gymnasts. But it’s true: I admired Laysan. I always liked the way she moves, works with the subject, her emotionality. Yes, for me she was the best gymnast. And over time, this has not gone away; she is still my idol. And not only as an athlete, but also as a person.
- Before the Olympics, didn’t you turn to her for advice?
- Unfortunately, before the Olympics I was not yet familiar with her. My childhood dream came true after the Games. Nastya Bliznyuk introduced us. This happened when the girls and I performed at Alexei Nemov’s show in Moscow. Laysan also took part in it, we even changed clothes in the same locker room.

- Laysan, after completing her gymnastics career, found herself as a TV presenter. Have you already thought about the future?
- To be honest, this is a difficult topic for me so far. I have not yet decided on new goals in life, in gymnastics. Now sport takes up 100% of my time and with such a schedule it is very difficult to fit anything else into my life. Therefore, I cannot answer this question yet!

Photoshoot

private photos

Sofia Skomorokh

Sofya Pavlovna Skomorokh(born August 18, 1999 Omsk) - Russian gymnast, world and European champion.

Shortly before the Olympics, Sonya was injured and was unable to go there, although she was in the first team all year.

private photos

Maria Tolkacheva

Maria Yurievna Tolkacheva(born August 18, 1997 - Zhukov) - Russian gymnast, three-time world champion, three-time European champion, two-time European Games champion, Olympic champion (2016) in group exercises. Honored Master of Sports

In my opinion, Masha is the most beautiful gymnast on the team. Although, of course, they are all beautiful.

Masha and Nastya Tatareva are best friends

That's all! Thank you all for your attention, and new victories for the girls)

Today, stunning victories of Russian gymnasts at various competitions are familiar to contemporaries. But 30 years ago these achievements did not exist at the Olympic Games. The story of the Olympics, in its impeccable and victorious form, began not so long ago.

Olympic history of rhythmic gymnastics

Rhythmic gymnastics as a type of competition came to the Olympics only in 1984. The decision to accept this sport as part of the Olympic tournaments was made at a congress held after the 1980 Olympics. 1984 became the starting point of the Olympic competitions in rhythmic gymnastics, where only women's teams took part. However, the USSR national team did not take part in these debut competitions - the Union declared a boycott and refused to participate in this Olympics. This was a response to the boycott by the United States at the 1980 Olympics.

The very first Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics was Canadian athlete Laurie Fung. Of course, without the participation of Soviet athletes, other countries of the world had significant chances of winning. But, having refused to participate in the games at the 1984 Olympics, many countries united and created an alternative tournament. Here, gymnasts from Bulgaria especially distinguished themselves in rhythmic gymnastics.

The golden age of Bulgarian gymnasts

The unofficial games of the Soviet countries were held in Sofia, and two Bulgarian gymnasts received the highest award. The debut performance of the USSR rhythmic gymnastics team was marked by second place.

Marina Lobach went down in history as the first Soviet Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

At the 1988 Olympics, the struggle for championship in gymnastics was already much more serious. Bets were placed on the brilliant performance of the Bulgarian athletes in the past, but the girls from the USSR national team did not plan to retreat and were excellently prepared. The final fight between two Bulgarians and girls from the USSR was brilliant, but Marina Lobach flawlessly completed the qualifying program, so she got the gold. And so began the triumphant march of Russian gymnasts across the Olympic podiums.

The victory at the 1988 Olympics was the final one for the gymnasts of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the USSR, a team formed from gymnasts from the CIS countries went to the 1992 Olympic Games. The team included Alexandra Timoshenko and Oksana Skaldina, both girls were from Ukraine. The gold medal of those games went to Alexandra, and the silver went to Spain.

The Summer Games in 1996 were not so victorious for the Russian team. The performances of Yana Batyrshina amazed the audience and the jury with their new elements and general approach to the performance. But Yana could only get silver in the individual all-around. In the group performance, Russia received bronze. This situation only spurred coach Irina Viner and the athletes, and already at the next Olympics Russia became the owner of the gold medal.

Wiener, Zaripova, Kabaeva, Batyrshina at competitions in Japan. 1997

The 2000 Sydney Olympics became “golden” for Yulia Barsukova, but unanimously the star of the games, according to journalists, was Alina Kabaeva. It is she who will get the gold medal at the next Olympic competitions. In 2004, the team will take home 2 medals in total - they will earn silver in these competitions.

Olympic champions

In 2008, the sports world met a unique Russian gymnast - Evgenia Kanaeva. The winners of the Beijing Games were, who took first place, and Anna Bessonova, who took home bronze. Returning to Moscow, the girls trained even more intensively, preparing for new Olympic heights. The next Olympics, held in London in 2012, left no chance for gymnasts from other countries to win. Both the highest awards - the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around - went to Russia with their owners - Zhenya Kanaeva and Dasha Dmitrieva. Ukraine earned gold in group exercises. Two-time winner and Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics Evgenia Kanaeva is almost finishing her sports career, but worthy athletes are already preparing to replace her.

The 2016 Rio Olympics made the Russian team the absolute winner in both types of performances - the girls took first place in both the group and individual all-around events. The amazing Russian exercises demonstrated by the gymnasts brought Yana Kudryavtseva to the finals with a silver medal. And in the group all-around, the victory was not easy - the number with ribbons barely brought the Russian team into the TOP-3 according to estimates, which made all the fans nervous. But a little later, in the routine with hoops and clubs, the athletes decisively took the lead, leaving no chance for other teams.

At the same Olympics, a new star of Russian gymnastics appeared on the sports horizon - Margarita Mamun. According to the results of the competition, the young, 19-year-old girl won an unconditional victory in the individual all-around.

Undoubtedly, rhythmic gymnastics and Russia are almost inseparable concepts in the world of sports. Being the winners of all Olympic competitions, Russian gymnasts do not stop, winning more and more titles in other tournaments. And many athletes in the standings, based on the results of all their victories, have titles with the prefixes “multiple,” “absolute,” or “record.” This speaks of the phenomenal diligence and hard work of fragile but strong girls.