The Russian national team is the undisputed world leader in rhythmic gymnastics. But due to sanctions, our athletes were not allowed to participate in the Paris Olympics. But even in such conditions, there was a triumph for Russian gymnasts, including former gymnasts. Daria Varfolomeeva, representing Germany, took gold. It was not possible to get rid of the Russians!
Without Russia
The USSR and then Russia national team was for a long time the leader in world rhythmic gymnastics. But with the 2000 Olympics, our athletes began to truly dominate. Since then, Russian gymnasts have consistently won gold in the individual and group categories.
Evgenia Kanaeva
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Everything broke down in Tokyo. In 2021, Dina Averina came in second, losing to Lina Ashram. The Israeli victory with a defeat later turned into a real scandal. In the group exercise our gymnasts took silver and the Bulgarians took gold. But there was a lot of controversy about this podium.
In Paris, unfortunately, this tradition continued. Our athletes had the right to qualify for the Games only in individual competition, but all the gymnasts refused to compete in a neutral state. As a result, Russia was not officially present at the 2024 Olympics, which means that our girls were again left without awards.
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Fortunately, in Paris, many former Russian gymnasts who changed their sports citizenship without finding a place in our team competed for other national teams. These were Daria Varfolomeev (Germany), Ekaterina Vedeneeva (Slovenia), Vera Tugolukova (Cyprus), Polina Berezina (Spain) in the individual all-around and Lidia Yakovleva (Australia) in the group all-around.
Of these five, only two made it to the final: world champion Varfolomeev and World Championship bronze medallist Vedeneeva. The German gymnast finished second in the standings due to a change of apparatus, and the Slovenian athlete was sixth. And if it was difficult for Ekaterina to score medals in the final at the age of 29, 17-year-old Daria was one of the favourites of the competition.
Our champion
The final line-up was extremely strong. Present were world team champion Boryana Kalein, five-time world champion Sofia Raffaeli and European champion Daria Atamanov.
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Despite this, Varfolomeev managed. In qualifying, Daria dropped the hoop – the apparatus was changed for her. And in the final everything went perfectly. The former Russian became the best in all four events and confidently won (142.850) with a difference of 2.250 points over her closest pursuer, Boryana Kalein. Seeing her final scores, Daria could not hold back tears of happiness.
The Bulgarian also performed well, albeit with a few minor imperfections. A stable performance allowed the experienced athlete to easily take her silver (140.600). There were tears of joy here too.
Daria Varfolomeev
Photo: Sina Schuldt/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
But the battle for bronze began. Daria Atamanov, Margarita Kolosov and Sofia Raffaeli competed for the medal. As a result, the Italian won the prize in the last event (136.300). Raffaeli also burst into tears after the kick, though not out of happiness, but out of sadness. Sofia clearly expected more.
By the way, the young athlete was overtaken by former Russian Ekaterina Vedeneeva. The 30-year-old gymnast took sixth place (131.900). Vedeneeva did everything without mistakes, but the complexity of her programs was less than that of the leaders. However, even with this result at her last Olympics, Catherine was satisfied.
But Varfolomeev achieved his goal. His victory should be greeted with joy not only in Russia, but also in Belarus, because Daria is coached by Belarusian Yulia Raskina, who won silver at the 2000 Olympics.
