Yana Kudryavtseva officially announced her retirement!

Yana Kudryavtseva is a Russian gymnast who is known to have one of the greatest gymnastics careers. For the past several years she managed to achieve great results having won many significant championships.

The lithe Kudryavtseva won nearly every competition she entered during the last Olympic cycle, racking up 16 World medals, including three consecutive World All-around titles, and innumerable golds on the World Cup circuit. Last Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro were less successful as she dropped a Club during her performance. Thus, it was Margarita Mamun who took gold.  

Yana Kudryavtseva was into sport since early childhood. She started as a swimmer but then she changed her interests towards rhythmic gymnastics. She was quickly noticed as a promising gymnast. Untested but precocious, Kudryavtseva quickly showed what she was made of: At her debut World Championships in Kiev, she became the youngest woman ever to win the World All-around title, beating Olympians Ganna Rizatdinova and Melitina Staniouta.

Her delicate appearance hid a ferocious competitive spirit. When the music accompanying her Ribbon routine stopped unexpectedly at the 2013 Worlds, Kudryavtseva kept right on performing, undisturbed by technical malfunctions, earning herself the nickname “Angel with Iron Wings.” Two more World All-around titles followed in quick succession in 2014 and again in 2015.

Kudryavtseva is famous for her lightness and smooth way of handling the apparatus, as well as for a signature element: a front walkover done while twirling the Ball on one finger.

Unfortunately, Yana Kudryavtseva had to undergo surgeries. She can’t resist that pain anymore. As a result, she announced her retirement. 

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