Against the background of the isolation of Russian athletes in world sports, the national ribbon and ball princesses hold internal tournaments and hope that one day we will still be able to fit into the unfairly selected right to participate in European and world races. However, the Russian school has always been rich in talented girls. One of these gymnasts represents Bulgaria Elvira Krasnobaeva.
Elvira was born in St. Petersburg, but her parents, by the way, sports dancers, were forced to move to Bulgaria. So, the young athlete, who at that time had been studying at the Zhemchuzhina Rhythmic Gymnastics School for two years, ended up in a country where the traditions of this sport are well developed. The Bulgarians, at one time, were almost the main rivals of the Soviet and Romanian gymnasts, constantly imposing a fight on the favorites at the big starts.
Photo source: Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation
“My story began in Russia. Mom wanted to sign me up for ballet, but she signed me up for gymnastics. I went to my first training, where they asked me to do bridge and splits, I didn’t make it. However, I liked it and they took me. Yes, there are athletes in the family, mom and dad are dancers, ”Elvira Krasnobaeva said in an interview.
Krasnobaeva’s development proceeded quite quickly. Soon she and she was listed as one of the most talented girls in Eastern Europe, conquering all the tournaments and championships organized by the local federation within the country. The training ground was the legendary Bulgarian school in the city of Varna. It is there where she is forged from Elvira the future conqueror of the Olympic heights.
Photo source: Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation
“I started at the Zhemchuzhina club with coach Irina Gusarova, and in Bulgaria at the Grazia club with Svetlana Yurievna. The first thing the coach taught me was to do what I do with love and soul, otherwise everything looks completely different. And my first conscious memory is the second day in Grazia, I cried because I didn’t want to get the ball out and the coach calmed me down. But nothing helped, until she said: “Okay, today you will not take the ball.” Today the ball is my favorite topic. The first serious start was the National Championship, when he was 9 years old. It was there that I became a national champion for the first time. So I was in the Char-DKS club under the leadership of Filipa Filipova, ”Elvira Krasnobaeva shared in an interview.
Due to Bulgarian legal delays, Elvira received citizenship only in 2021, after which she was immediately allowed to play for the national team. In 2021, Elvira was included in the Bulgarian national team ahead of the 2022/2023 European and World Junior Championships. She then became the country’s champion, ahead of all her most experienced rivals. True European recognition came to the young Russian already in 2022, when she won gold medals in hoop exercises at the Junior European Championships in Israel, adding to this “silver” with the ball and “bronze” in the team championship. . Such a rich capture of the continental championship forced experts to pay close attention to the Russian girl from Bulgaria.
Photo source: Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation
This season, Krasnobaeva has already been awarded the highest level at the second World Junior Championships, having won gold medals in the team event (individual + group) and in the ball competition. Thus, Elvira made it clear that even at an adult level, notorious favorites will have more headaches. In the absence of the brilliant team of Irina Viner at the world championships, all fans of domestic rhythmic gymnastics will still have someone to cheer for. Primarily Russian sport will not do without ours.
