Alina Kabaeva

Early career

Kabaeva started rhythmic gymnastics at age three with coach Margarita Samuilovna.^[11] At age seven, her mother took her to a club in Tashkent, where she was turned away for being too heavy.^[12][13] In 1993, she represented Kazakhstan at an international competition in Japan.^[14][15][16]

At the age of 12, Kabaeva moved to Moscow. There her mother took her to the Russian head coach, Irina Viner. Viner initially thought she was too short and overweight for gymnastics, but she decided to accept her after watching her practice and seeing her flexibility and jumps.^[12] However, she insisted that Kabaeva lose weight immediately; Kabaeva was only allowed to have water for three days, and she was put on a strict diet while training intensively.^[12][13] Kabaeva later said that she begged Viner for food.^[13] Kabaeva's mother initially returned to Tashkent, though she called and visited frequently until she moved to Moscow with Kabaeva's younger sister.^[12]

1996–1999

Kabaeva made her international debut representing Russia in 1996 and won two silver all-around medals, both behind Yulia Raskina.^[17][18] The next year, she won every junior event she competed in and placed 4th in the senior category at the Russian Championships.^[19]

In 1998, her first year as an international senior, the 15-year-old Kabaeva won the 1998 European Championships in Portugal.^[20] At the time, she was the youngest member of the Russian squad. Kabaeva was competing alongside internationally recognized teammates such as Amina Zaripova, Yana Batyrshina and Irina Tchachina. Later that year, she won the World Youth Games, held in Moscow. She also won three of the four event finals at the 1998 Goodwill Games.^[21]

Kabaeva then became the 1999 European Champion in Hungary and won the 1999 World title in Osaka, Japan. Kabaeva went on to win a total of 5 all-around titles at the European Championships.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, in Australia, Kabaeva was expected to win the gold medal in the all-around; however, due to an error in an otherwise clean performance—she dropped her hoop, and ran to retrieve it outside of the competition area. Kabaeva won the bronze medal with the final score of 39.466 (Rope 9.925, Hoop 9.641, Ball 9.950, Ribbon 9.950). Belarus's Yulia Raskina took the silver medal, while fellow Russian teammate, Yulia Barsukova, won the Olympic gold medal.^[22][23][24]

2001–2004

At the 2001 World Championships in Madrid Spain, Kabaeva won the gold medal for the ball, clubs, hoop, rope, the individual all around, and the team competition. Then at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane Australia, Kabaeva won the gold medal in the ball, clubs, and rope; and the silver in the individual all around and hoop. However, Kabaeva and her teammate, Irina Tchachina, tested positive to a banned diuretic (furosemide), and were stripped of their medals.^[25]

Viner, the Russian head coach, who also served as the vice president of the FIG at the time, said her gymnasts had been taking a food supplement called "Hyper", that contained mild diuretics, which, according to Viner, the gymnasts were taking for premenstrual syndrome. When the supply ran out shortly before the Goodwill Games, the team physiotherapist restocked at a local pharmacy. According to Viner, the supplement sold there was fake and contained furosemide. The committee requested that the Goodwill Games organizing committee nullify Kabaeva and Tchachina's results. The FIG also nullified their results from the world championships in Madrid, causing Ukraine's Tamara Yerofeeva to be declared the 2001 world champion.^[25] Kabaeva was not allowed to participate in competitions from August 2001 to August 2002. Her first international competition after the ban was the 2002 European Championships, where she took first place in the individual all-around.

Kabaeva won the 2003 World Title in Budapest, Hungary.^[26] Kabaeva won the all around gold medal. at the 2003 World Championships, as well as the event final gold in ribbon and ball ahead of Anna Bessonova of Ukraine.

In 2004, Kabaeva won the all around gold medal at the 2004 European Championships in Kyiv, Ukraine. At the 2004 Athens Olympics Greece, Kabaeva won the gold medal in the individual all around, with a score of 108.400 (hoop 26.800, ball 27.350, clubs 27.150, ribbon 27.100), the silver medal went to her teammate, Irina Tchachina.^[27][24]

2005–2008

In October 2004, Kabaeva announced her retirement from the sport.^[28] However, in June 2005, the Russian Head Coach Irina Viner announced a possible comeback.^[29] Kabaeva resumed her sport career at an Italy-Russia friendly competition in Genoa, on 10 September 2005.^[30] On 5 March 2006, Kabaeva won the Gazprom Moscow Grand Prix, with fellow Russians Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova, taking the Second and Third places.^[31] Kabaeva won the silver medal in All-Around at the 2006 European Championships, behind her teammate, Sessina.

At the 2007 European Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan; Kabaeva, Sessina, and Kapranova were chosen to represent Russia. However, on the eve of the competition, Kabaeva withdrew due to an injury. Viner selected rising upcoming gymnast Evgenia Kanaeva from Russia's National Team as the replacement.^[32] Kabaeva finished fourth in all-around qualifications at the 2007 World Championships but did not advance into the finals due to the two per country rule, with Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova placing ahead of her.^[33] Kabaeva did qualify for the ribbon final where she won a bronze medal behind Sessina and Ukraine's Anna Bessonova. Plans for Kabaeva's participation in the 2008 Olympics^[34][35][36] were repeatedly announced, but this did not happen.

Contributions to rhythmic gymnastics

Kabaeva revolutionized rhythmic gymnastics as one of the few gymnasts to have performed new skills and elements, including the back split pivot with hand help (also known as "The Kabaeva"), the ring position with a slow full turn, and the backscale pivot that she first performed.^[37]

Rhythmic gymnastic achievements

• Won the 1998 European Championships in the all-around in Porto, Portugal, at 15 years of age, the youngest ever to do so.
• Leveled with Elena Karpukhina as one of the youngest Rhythmic Gymnast to win the All-Around World Championships in 1999 Osaka at 16 years old, until Yana Kudryavtseva of the Russian Federation broke the record winning the All-Around 2013 World Championships at 15 years old.
• Performed the backscale pivot first.^[37]
• Holds the record for the most European All-Around titles, in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2004.
• Won all Grand-slam titles, and is only one of the three rhythmic gymnasts (with Ekaterina Serebrianskaya and Evgenia Kanaeva) ever to do so. The titles are: Olympics, World Championships, European Championships, World Cup Final, and Grand Prix Final.
• Became a six time Russian National All-Around Champion, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2007.^[38]

Detailed Olympic results

Post-retirement activity

Kabaeva was among the six Russian athlete torch bearers who carried the Olympic flame through Fisht Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Her selection as a torch bearer generated controversy in the international media because of her alleged close relationship with President Vladimir Putin.^[40][41]

In 2015, Kabaeva was an honorary guest at the 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. In 2017, she became the official FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Ambassador at the 2017 World Championships in Pesaro, Italy.^[42]