Alina Kabaeva

Alina Kabaeva
— Gymnast —
Personal information
Full name	Alina Maratovna Kabaeva
Country represented	Russia
Born	(1983-05-12) 12 May 1983 Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Residence	Moscow, Russia
Height	166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	50 kg (110 lb)
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Club	MGFSO Dynamo
Head coach(es)	Irina Viner
Assistant coach(es)	Vera Shatalina
Choreographer	Veronica Shatkova
Eponymous skills	backscale pivots
Retired	2007
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 1 World Championships 9 3 2 European Championships 15 3 3 World Cup Final 9 2 0 Grand Prix Final 4 1 1 Goodwill Games 4 1 0 Total 41 10 7 Representing Russia Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympic Games 2004 Athens All-around 2000 Sydney All-around World Championships 2007 Patras Team 2003 Budapest All-around 2003 Budapest Team 2003 Budapest Ball 2003 Budapest Ribbon 1999 Osaka All-around 1999 Osaka Team 1999 Osaka Ball 1999 Osaka Ribbon 2003 Budapest Hoop 1999 Osaka Rope 1999 Osaka Hoop 2007 Patras Ribbon 2003 Budapest Clubs Disqualified 2001 Madrid All-around Disqualified 2001 Madrid Rope Disqualified 2001 Madrid Ball Disqualified 2001 Madrid Hoop Disqualified 2001 Madrid Clubs Disqualified 2001 Madrid Team European Championships 2004 Kiev All-around 2004 Kiev Team 2002 Granada All-around 2002 Granada Team 2001 Geneva Hoop 2001 Geneva Ball 2001 Geneva Clubs 2000 Zaragoza All-around 2000 Zaragoza Team 2000 Zaragoza Hoop 2000 Zaragoza Ball 2000 Zaragoza Ribbon 1999 Budapest All-around 1999 Budapest Hoop 1998 Porto All-around 2006 Moscow All-around 2001 Geneva Rope 1999 Budapest Ribbon 2000 Zaragoza Rope 1999 Budapest Rope 1998 Porto Team World Cup Final 2004 Moscow Hoop 2004 Moscow Ribbon 2003 Baku All-around 2003 Baku Ribbon 2003 Baku Ball 2003 Baku Clubs 2000 Glasgow Rope 2000 Glasgow Ball 2000 Glasgow Ribbon 2003 Baku Hoop 2000 Glasgow Hoop Grand Prix Final 1998 Linz All-around 1999 Korneuburg Hoop 1999 Korneuburg Ball 1999 Korneuburg Ribbon 1999 Korneuburg All-around 2000 Deventer Ribbon Goodwill Games 1998 New York All-around 1998 New York Clubs 1998 New York Ribbon 1998 New York Hoop 1998 New York Rope Disqualified 2001 Brisbane All-around Disqualified 2001 Brisbane Ball Disqualified 2001 Brisbane Clubs Disqualified 2001 Brisbane Rope Disqualified 2001 Brisbane Hoop

Alina Maratovna Kabaeva (Russian: Али́на Мара́товна Каба́ева; Tatar: Älinä Marat qızı Qabayeva, Әлинә Марат кызы Кабаева; born 12 May 1983) is a Russian Honored Master of Sports, retired rhythmic gymnast, and politician. Between 2007 and 2014 she was a State Duma deputy from the United Russia party. Since September 2014 she is the chairwoman of the board of directors of the National Media Group.

Kabaeva is Russia's second most successful rhythmic gymnast after Evgenia Kanaeva. She is also one of the most decorated gymnasts in the history of rhythmic gymnastics with two Olympic medals, 14 world championship medals and 25 European championship medals.

Early life and career

Kabaeva, the daughter of a Tatar father and Russian mother, was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, in the Soviet Union on 12 May 1983. She started rhythmic gymnastics there at the age of 3 with coach Margarita Samuilovna. Her father Marat Kabayev was a professional football (soccer) player and the family was constantly following him to different places in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. At first, many coaches did not like Alina because they considered her "too heavy" and "ugly" to be a rhythmic gymnast, none of them seemed to consider her a rhythmic gymnast of any particular talent. In her young teens she moved to Russia, where her mother took her to the Russian head coach Irina Viner, who liked her from the start.

She stayed with Viner and made her international debut in 1996. In 1998 the 15-year-old Kabaeva won the European Championships in Portugal. At the time she was the youngest member of the Russian squad, competing alongside internationally recognized teammates, like Amina Zaripova. In 1999 Kabaeva became European Champion for the second consecutive time and won the World title in Osaka, Japan. She went on to win a total of 5 all-around titles at the European Championships and added another World title in 2003 in Budapest, Hungary.

(L-R) Alina Kabaeva (bronze), Yulia Barsukova (gold) and Yulia Raskina (silver) at 2000 Olympic Games podium

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Kabaeva was expected to claim gold in all-around, but, due to an error in an otherwise exceptional performance—she dropped her hoop and ran to retrieve it outside the competition area – took home the bronze with the final score of 39.466 (Rope 9.925, Hoop 9.641, Ball 9.950, Ribbon 9.950), Belarus' Yulia Raskina took the silver medal while fellow Russian teammate Yulia Barsukova won the Olympics Gold medal.

At the 2001 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, she won the gold for the ball, clubs and rope, and gold in the Individual All-Around and hoop. At the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, Kabaeva won the gold for 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.

Irina Viner, the Russian head coach, who also served as the Vice President of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee at the time, said her gymnasts had been taking a food supplement called "Hyper" which contained mild diuretics, which, according to Viner, the gymnasts were taking for pre-menstrual 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 commission requested the Goodwill Games organizing committee to 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.

In 2003, Kabaeva marked her return to competitive gymnastics after serving the suspension, she won the all-around gold medal at the 2003 World Championships as well as the event final in ribbon and ball ahead of Ukrainian Anna Bessonova.

In 2004, she won the all-around gold at the 2004 European Championships in Kiev. At the 2004 Athens Olympics Kabaeva took home the gold medal in the individual all-around for rhythmic gymnastics 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.

In October 2004, Kabaeva announced her retirement from the sport. However, in June 2005, the Russian head coach Irina Viner announced a possible comeback. Kabaeva resumed her sport career at an Italy-Russia friendly competition in Genoa, on 10 September 2005. On 5 March 2006, She won the Gazprom Moscow Grand Prix, with fellow Russians Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova taking the second and third places. She won the silver medal in all-around at the 2006 European Championships behind 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 because of an injury. Viner selected rising upcoming gymnast Evgenia Kanaeva from Russia's National Team as the replacement. Kabaeva finished 4th in all-around qualifications at the 2007 World Championships and did not advance into the finals due to the two per country rule with Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova placing ahead of Kabaeva. She completed her career at the 2007 Season.

After retirement

Vladimir Putin and Kabaeva, 2001

Since 2005 Kabaeva has been a member of the Public Chamber of Russia.

She also appeared briefly in the 2001 Japanese movie Red Shadow, performing her gymnastic routine. Between 2007 and 2014 Kabaeva has been a member of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, representing the United Russia party. Since February 2008 she has been Chairman of the National Media Group's Public Council, the media group that controls Izvestia, Channel One and REN TV. In September 2014 Kabaeva resigned from the Duma and accepted the position of chair of the board of directors of the National Media Group, the biggest Russian media conglomerate.

In January 2011, Alina Kabaeva appeared on the cover of Vogue Russia.

In her capacity of a member of parliament, she voted for a number of controversial laws which were speedily adopted in 2012–2013, including the Anti-Magnitsky bill on the ban of intercountry adoption (of Russian orphans) by U.S. families, as well as laws on the prohibition of the "homosexual propaganda" aimed at adolescents, on extrajudicial ban of access to websites which may host materials violating copyright, and on the reorganization of the Academy of Sciences.

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 among the international media, largely due to her personal ties to Vladimir Putin.

Influence

Kabaeva revolutionized rhythmic gymnastics as one of the few gymnasts to have performed new skills and elements which included 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.

Achievements

• Youngest rhythmic gymnast to win the European Championships in 1998 Porto at 15 years of age.
• She levels with Elena Karpuchina 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 of age.
• First to perform the backscale pivot.
• Holds the record for the most European All-around titles (1998,1999,2000,2002 and 2004).
• Kabaeva is only one of the three rhythmic gymnasts ( with Ekaterina Serebrianskaya and Evgenia Kanaeva ) to win all the Grand-slam titles (Olympics, World Championships, European Championships, World Cup Final and Grand Prix Final).
• Six time Russian National All-around champion (1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007).

Routine music information

Year	Apparatus	Music title
2007	Hoop (second)	Allegro Vivo (Walpurgis Night) from Faust by Charles Gounod
	Hoop (first)	Payadora by Julian Plaza
	Rope (second)	Rio Rita by DJ Valer
	Rope (first)	Sirtaki by Andre Rieu
	Clubs (second)	Rio Rita by DJ Valer
	Clubs (first)	Sardarabad by Ara Gevorgian
	Ribbon	Espana Cani music from Cincinnati by Pops Orchestra
2006	Ball (second)	Sirtaki by David Moutsis
	Ball (first)	Introduction music from Queen of Spades by Sofia Festival Orchestra
	Rope	Clockwork (Shantel vs Mahala Rai Banda remix) by Mambayaga Project
	Clubs (second)	Overture music from The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad by Bernard Herrmann
	Clubs (first)	White Darbouka by Hovannes K.
	Ribbon	Granada by Andre Rieu
2005	Ball	Fuga Y Misterio by Astor Piazzolla
	Rope	Clockwork (Shantel vs Mahala Rai Banda remix) by Mambayaga Project
	Clubs	White Darbouka by Hovannes K.
	Ribbon	Suite – 1st Movement from The Valencian Widow by Aram Khachaturian
2004	Hoop (second)	Carmen's entrance and Habanera by Georges Bizet
	Hoop (first)	Finale / Dance / Prelude / Bolero music from Carmen by Georges Bizet & Rodion Shchedrin
	Ball	Syrtaki by D. Moutsis
	Clubs	Sphynx (Club Mix) by Giampiero Ponte, Moran
	Ribbon	Sphynx by Giampiero Ponte
2003	Hoop	Finale / Dance / Prelude / Bolero music from Carmen by Georges Bizet & Rodion Shchedrin
	Ball	Polovtsian Dances music from Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin
	Clubs	Moliendo café by Fanfare Ciocarlia
	Ribbon	Caravane / Der Bauch / Istikhbar by Radar / MC Sultan / Gnawa Diffusion
2002	Hoop	Finale / Dance / Prelude / Bolero music from Carmen by Georges Bizet & Rodion Shchedrin
	Rope	Snakefood, Samba Adagio by Safri Duo
	Clubs	Hava Naquila by Party Animals
	Ball	Weather Storm by Craig Armstrong
2001	Hoop	Desert Rose (House Mix) by Sting feat. Cheb Mami
	Rope	Shark music from Full Sink by Laureate
	Clubs	Lament To Birch Bark music from The Best Of Russian Folk Music by Moscow Balalaika Quartet
	Ball	Question of U by Classic Metropolitan Orchestra (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
2000	Hoop	Les Toreadors by Georges Bizet
	Rope	Tsiganochka (Traditional Gipsy folk)
	Ball	Felicia music from Forever Tango by Luis Bravo
	Ribbon	Dilorom / Yor Yor by Yulduz Usmanova / Shahzod
1999	Hoop	Spirit of Taiko by Kitaro
	Rope	Release the Dubs music from Shallow Grave by Leftfield
	Ball	Felicia music from Forever Tango by Luis Bravo
	Ribbon	Dilorom / Yor Yor by Yulduz Usmanova / Shahzod
1998	Hoop	Symphonica by DJ Quicksilver
	Clubs	Korobejniki from Kamarinskaya by Michael Glinka
	Ball	?
	Ribbon (second)	Kitri, Entrance, Coda music from Don Quixote by Leon Minkus
	Ribbon (first)	Lo Sciecco Bianco by Nino Rota
1997	Hoop	Paradisio / Canton Express / I dream of Santiago by Gypsy
	Clubs	?
	Ball	Finale (Carnival of the Animals) music from Charles by Camille Saint-Saëns
	Ribbon	Lo Sciecco Bianco by Nino Rota

Detailed Olympic results

Year	Competition Description	Location	Music	Apparatus	Score-Final	Score-Qualifying
2004	Olympics	Athens		All-around	108.400	105.875
			Sphynx by Giampiero Ponte	Ribbon	27.100	26.100
			Syrtaki by D. Moutsis	Ball	27.350	27.250
			Carmen's entrance and Habanera by Georges Bizet	Hoop	26.800	26.050
			Sphynx (Club Mix) by Giampiero Ponte, Moran	Clubs	27.150	26.475

Year	Competition Description	Location	Music	Apparatus	Score-Final	Score-Qualifying
2000	Olympics	Sydney		All-around	39.466	39.691
			Dilorom / Yor Yor by Yulduz Usmanova and Shahzod	Ribbon	9.950	9.925
			Felicia by Luis Bravo	Ball	9.950	9.925
			Les Toreadors by Georges Bizet	Hoop	9.651	9.925
			Tsiganochka ( Gypsy Folk )	Rope	9.925	9.916

External links

• Alina Kabaeva at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
• Alina Kabaeva Profile (Russian)
• Rhythmic Gymnastics Results
• Official website (Russian)
• Alina Kabaeva Biography and Olympic Results at Sports-Reference