At the 2023 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Valencia, an event took place that was simply impossible before: with the participation of Russians and Belarusians. The German gymnast took all the individual gold of the tournament overall and stood right up there with the legends of the past. Daria Varfolomeev, after her victories in the finals of the individual events, became the world champion in the individual category.
What happened to the star gymnasts:
How the stars of Russian gymnastics have changed: Kabaeva, Kanaeva, Mamun and others
But his victory, despite the great performances of the previous days, was not so evident. Because? Let’s figure it out.
Ideal eyeliner Varfolomeev
The individual all-around final is the main medal in gymnastics after the gold of the Olympic Games. To win in all respects, it is necessary not only to demonstrate high complexity, but also to pass all types consistently and cleanly, which is rarely possible even for the strongest gymnasts.
Daria Varfolomeev, the Italian champion from last year Sofia Raffaeli, who was strong throughout the season, the Bulgarian Stiliana Nikolova, who, if she did not fail in the programs, always won, because she surpasses all the main rivals in difficulty, the European champion 2023, the Bulgarian Boryana. Kalein and last year’s European Championship winner, Israeli Daria Atamanov, who was absent for almost a year due to injury and long recovery.
Daria Varfolomeev
Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images
Varfolomeev turned out to be the most stable, having passed all four types without serious errors. And this is not just in every way. In Valencia, Daria performed three times with each of the four subjects, including in the preliminaries and finals of individual tests, and she did not make serious mistakes. No other leader could boast of such stability at the 2023 World Cup. This performance of Varfolomeev is the main indicator that the athlete and the coach were perfectly prepared for the main start of the season. After the results of the World Championships, Daria was on a par with those great gymnasts of the past who won everything at such tournaments: Bianka Panova, Alexandra Timoshenko, Oksana Kostina, Ekaterina Serebryanskaya and Evgenia Kanaeva.
Varfolomeev collected all the gold from the 2023 World Cup:
The former Russian repeated the great record at the 2023 World Cup! Varfolomeev has already won four gold medals
Of course, if you analyze all the exercises in detail, there is always something to complain about, even Daria did not escape small errors and inaccuracies. But she focused on her strengths. After the 2023 World Cup, everyone found out that Varfolomeev has an incredible complexity of body and apparatus, he perfectly fits the criteria of difficulty in performance, so the judges have no doubts about what to count and what not, well, stability.
Until the last look, the German was not leading. His victory is also a blessing.
Raffaeli’s fatal mistake
Sofia Raffaeli, who got gold before the club exercise, missed her chance. The Italian from the first exit to the carpet in the all-around showed that she was only willing to win. She simply broached the subject and captured the public in the world of images of her. Raffaeli is one of the few that shows real performances, her performances make you fall in love with yourself.
The first two tests Sofia went well, but in the clubs she made a serious mistake that threw her out of first place and was fatal in the fight for gold. After all, the Italian completed her performance in the all-around with a tape program, and in this matter it is more difficult to gain difficulty. Even with the highest score from her, Raffaeli could only get silver. From the emotions after the final, it was clear how this failure knocked Sophia out of her mind. Maybe all her fans cried with her.
In 2003, fans booed Kabaeva:
“Thanks to my enemies, I won.” In the 2003 World Cup, Kabaeva scandalously beat a Ukrainian
Perhaps another mistake was fatal. Raffaeli could not take a single gold in this championship, but a year ago he had four personal victories and one for the team. After such a performance, the 2023 World Cup can hardly be called a success. Many attribute it to a change in personal trainer. Previously, Sofia worked with Giulietta Cantalupi, but even since the Cup in Milan, another mentor began to take the gymnast to performances.
Sofia Raffaeli
Photo: Toru Hanai/Getty Images
The Italian Gymnastics Federation, in an official statement, affirms that Cantalupi put all his efforts into preparing Milena Baldassarri so that she could win the second place in Italy for the 2024 Olympic Games. But on the air of Italian television, the famous Almudena Cid said that indeed, at this time, Sofía and Julieta separated due to a personal misunderstanding. According to her, the coach usually begins to lose credibility among gymnasts at Raffaeli’s age (19 years). Especially if the mentor is young.
In addition, information began to appear that Sofia had a complex character, and she herself spoke more than once about mood swings. If the duo meets again, Raffaeli will definitely claim the title of best in the world.
Who will stand out from the rest?
The bronze medal was won by Daria Atamanov. She was the least expected to medal at the 2023 World Cup because the athlete played only the second tournament after a nearly year-long hiatus due to injury. But Daria seemed strong; this, of course, is something from the realm of fantasy, all things considered. It is stable, this is an important quality for a leader, but there is still time to add complexity to the Olympic Games. I think in Paris she will fight for gold.
The Bulgarian Stiliana Nikolova did not have a good final in all senses. She collected everything: expensive losses, difficulties in jumping, at some point even the official broadcast of her performance was hung. Next year strong young Bulgarians will move to the top level. Then the real competition for trips to Paris will begin. Also, these bonuses are not nominal, but the leaders of the Bulgarian national team are currently in a very unstable situation.
Stiliana Nikolova
Photo: IMAGO/TASS
The gymnast from Uzbekistan Takhmina Ikromova was pleased in all respects, she coped with all kinds without serious mistakes. She handles her elements amazingly, and even those that are higher rated are definitely inferior to her at times. Takhmina may still take her medals. I haven’t read a single negative review about her in the entire tournament, and it’s quite justified.
The Bulgarian Boryana Kalein is another gymnast for whom the 2023 World Cup did not go well. There was a loss to the rim at risk, which immediately knocked her out of the lead, and in final form the ball, after rolling, went completely away from her all the way down the court, followed by a run across the mat, which did not could stop affecting brands. Ukrainian Viktoria Onoprienko from the program turned out well, but not perfectly, there were inaccuracies.
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The Spanish Alba Bautista pleasantly surprises with her interesting performances and her incredible emotions for the second consecutive World Cup. In the final, she managed to pass all the programs exactly and make it to the top 10.
With a high probability, we will see all these gymnasts in one year in Paris, where someone will have a chance to rehabilitate, and someone will prove their right to the title. I hope we will see them compete with the gymnasts from Russia and Belarus.
