Darja Varfolomeev

2022 season: Senior debut and World silver all-around medal

She debuted in the senior category in 2022, at World Cup Tashkent, where she won the bronze medal in the all-around. She took another bronze medal in the hoop final and two silver medals in the ball and ribbon finals, and she placed 4th with clubs. On May 20–22, she competed at the World Challenge Cup in Pamplona, where she took 4th place in the all-around.^[16] She also won two gold medals in the ball and ribbon finals and was 4th place in the clubs final.^[17] Varfolomeev continued collecting medals at World Challenge Cup Portimão, where she won silver in the all-around behind Israeli Adi Asya Katz. She took three more medals in the apparatus finals - two gold with ball and clubs and one silver with hoop.^[18]

In June she competed at the European Championships in Tel Aviv, along with Margarita Kolosov, the senior group, and the two juniors Lada Pusch and Anna-Maria Shatokhin; she won two bronze medals in the ball and clubs finals.^[19] In late August she took part in the World Cup in Cluj-Napoca, where she was 6th in the all-around, 4th with ball and 4th with clubs.^[20]

Varfolomeev was also selected for the World Championships in Sofia along with Kolosov and the senior group. There she won gold in the clubs final, silver in the all-around, team category, and ball, as well as bronze with hoop.^[21]

2023 season: World all-around gold sweep

In 2023 she showed her clubs routine in the Italian clubs championship' first stage, where she competed for Motto Viareggio.^[22] Due to a foot operation in December 2022, Varfolomeev competed with only two apparatuses in the Fellbach-Schmiden Tournament, where she won gold in both the ball and clubs finals.^[23] She won one medal at the 2023 European Championships, the gold in ribbon.^[24]

At the 2023 World Championships, Varfolomeev won every gold medal available in the all-around and the four apparatus finals, making her the first rhythmic gymnast to do so since Evgeniya Kanaeva in 2009 and fourth to ever do so after Bianka Panova, Oksana Kostina, and Kanaeva.^[11] It was the first world all-around title for a German rhythmic gymnast in nearly 50 years, after Carmen Rischer won the 1975 World Championships.^[12]

Afterward, she was a co-winner of the Piotr Nurowski Prize awarded by the European Olympic Committees to athletes under 18, along with Turkish swimmer Kuzey Tunçelli.^[25] During the off-season, she traveled to give master classes in Spain and Poland.^[12]

2024 season: Olympic champion

In March, Varfolomeev competed at the Rhythmic Gymnastics Grand Prix stage in Marbella, where she won the all-around bronze medal and qualified for the hoop, clubs, and ribbon finals. In the hoop final, she won gold.^[26]

The next month, she competed at the World Cup in Baku. She won the all-around gold ahead of Elvira Krasnobaeva and Sofia Raffaeli, and she then went on to win three of the four event final golds as well in the hoop, ball, and ribbon finals. In the clubs final, she dropped her apparatus and came in third behind Raffaeli and Taisiia Onofriichuk.^[27][28] The week after, she competed at the next World Cup in Tashkent, where she once again won the all-around, this time ahead of Takhmina Ikromova and Boryana Kaleyn. In the apparatus finals, she won two more golds in clubs and ribbon, and silver in the other two finals, hoop and ball.^[29]

In May, she represented Germany at the 2024 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She won the bronze medal in the all-around final behind Stiliana Nikolova and Sofia Raffaeli. She also placed fourth in the team competition with fellow Germans Anastasia Simakova, Margarita Kolosov, and the German senior group. In the apparatus finals, Varfolomeev won a gold medal in ribbon and placed fourth in the ball final.^[30] She did not advance into the clubs final after finishing 10th in qualifications.^[31]

On June 6–7, she competed at the German National Championships and won the silver medal in the all-around behind Margarita Kolosov. She had a drop during her hoop routine when the hoop hit a bar on the ceiling and at the end of the all-around, she was 0.3 point away from her teammate.^[32] The next day, during the event finals, she adjusted her routines for the ceiling of the venue and rebounded to win three of the four gold medals (hoop, clubs, and ribbon). She also won silver in the ball final behind Kolosov.^[33] Later in June, she competed at the World Cup in Milan. She won the all-around ahead of Sofia Raffaeli and Viktoriia Onopriienko and won three medals in the apparatus finals: gold with ball and clubs and silver with ribbon. In the hoop final, she dropped her apparatus and ended in fourth.^[34]

In August, she competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics. After dropping her hoop, she qualified for the final in second place behind Sofia Raffaeli.^[35] In the final, she was the only competitor with multiple scores above 36, and she won the competition, making her the first German rhythmic gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal and the first rhythmic gymnast to win a medal for Germany since Regina Weber won a bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics.^[36][37] She said of her result, "It's difficult to say something right now. I'm really happy and I'm still not really believing it."^[37]

On November 4, her 18th birthday, she was awarded the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf), the highest sports award in Germany, by president Frank-Walter Steinmeier.^[38] Later in November, she competed in the final of the rhythmic gymnastics Bundesliga; she and Anna-Maria Shatokhin contributed the most points for their club, TSV Schmieden, which won the competition. Varfolomeev noted the size of the audience at the competition and said, "In most cases, we don't have such a full hall, which makes me even happier that so many are now interested in our sport".^[39]

2025 season: Two-time World champion

Varfolomeev spent the first part of the season balancing training, finishing her secondary education, and working to attain her driver's license, which she described as a stressful workload, though she also said, "I try to solve every problem with a smile."^[40] She also grew another 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) over the year, which she said she continuously needed to adjust to.^[2]

She began her season in late February by competing for the Italian club Motto Viareggio during the first stage of the Italian Serie A1 club championship. She performed her clubs routine and received the highest score of the day, and Motto Viareggio won the competition.^[41] On April 18-20, she competed at Baku World Cup and took 4th place in the all-around. She failed to qualify for the hoop final, but she finished fifth in the ball final and took home gold medals in the clubs and ribbon finals.^[42] The week after, she competed at her next World Cup in Tashkent, where she won the all-around silver medal behind Takhmina Ikromova after a tiebreak; they both scored 112.25 points, but Ikromova had the higher execution score. Although she had issues with her apparatus during her qualifying hoop routine, she qualified to the ball, clubs, and ribbon apparatus finals and won gold in all three.^[43][44]

Ahead of the European Championships in June, Varfolomeev noted that she was still becoming used to her new routines and said that she was "maybe at 40 percent" in feeling confident with them.^[40] She won the bronze medal in the all-around final and took 4th place in the team competition with the German senior group, Anastasia Simakova and Lada Pusch. Of her performance, she noted that, "Not everything went according to plan today," but said she was happy to have won the bronze medal.^[45] In the apparatus finals, she placed fifth with hoop and won gold with her ribbon routine; she said that she was confident in the routine and that she was happy to have performed it as she did in training.^[46]

Varfolomeev won Germany's first qualifying event for the World Championships ahead of Margarita Kolosov. She returned to international competition on July 18, at the World Cup Milan, where she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Sofia Raffaeli. She won the gold medal in the ball final, while in the other finals she placed sixth in the hoop and fourth in both the clubs and ribbon after making several errors. A week later, she competed in the World Cup Challenge Cluj-Napoca, where she won the gold medal in the all-around. In the end of July, she won every gold medal in the all-around and all apparatus finals at the 2025 German National Championships.^[47] Afterward, she rated her preparation at "90 percent", and she credited the increase in her performance to being able to focus on training after having completed her school exams.^[48]

At the 2025 World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Varfolomeev represented Germany along with her teammate Anastasia Simakova. She qualified to the all-around final in first place. During the final, after her first routine with the clubs, she did not look at her interim scores. She ultimately defended her title, winning gold above Stiliana Nikolova and Sofia Raffaeli.^[49] During the medal ceremony, the national anthem for Georgia was mistakenly played rather than that of Germany.^[50] In the event finals, Varfolomeev took all but one apparatus title, nearly repeating her result from 2023; she did not medal in hoop after she fell out of a turn onto her hands. She also won gold in the team event with the other German gymnasts, for a total of five gold medals.^[51]

In December, she competed one routine, hoop, in the final of the rhythmic gymnastics Bundesliga; she earned the highest score for her club, TSV Schmiden, which won the competition.^[52]

2026 season

Varfolomeev presented her new routines (hoop and clubs) in March at Gymnastik International Fellbach-Schmiden, and she won gold medals with both. Then she competed at the International Tournament MTM Cup in Ljubljana, winning gold in clubs and ribbon.^[53] On April 10-12, she competed at Tashkent World Cup and won the silver medal in the all-around behind Maria Borisova. She took gold in the clubs and ribbon finals and bronze in the hoop final.^[54] Later in April, she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Taisiia Onofriichuk at the Baku World Cup. In the finals, she won three more gold medals (ball, clubs, ribbon).^[55]