Evgeniya Kanaeva

Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva OMF (Евгения Олеговна Канаева; born 2 April 1990) is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast.

Kanaeva shares the record for most individual world all-around titles with Maria Petrova (1995 tied with Ekaterina Serebrianskaya), Maria Gigova (1971 tied with Galima Shugurova) and fellow Russian gymnasts Yana Kudryavtseva and Dina Averina, and Kanaeva is the one of only three gymnasts to have won all three titles without being tied, impossible due to the tie breaking system even though she never was tied for a title.

In 2003, at 13 years of age, Kanaeva debuted in international competitions and began winning the junior events, Kanaeva represented ‘Gazprom’ as a junior rhythmic gymnast to take part in the World Club Championship (also known as 'Aeon Cup') in Japan alongside Irina Tchachina and Alina Kabayeva.

She won the junior title and was presently noticed by the head coach of the Russian national team, Irina Viner.

She was accepted into the Novogorsk training centre for national team members.

Kanaeva's rise through the senior ranks was not without difficulty due to Russia's repository of rhythmic gymnasts.

After the Olympic Games 2004, at which Kabaeva and Tchachina won the gold and silver medals respectively, Kabayeva remained competitive while Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova rose to become Russia's new leading rhythmic gymnasts, leaving little room for Kanaeva in the competitive sphere.

Kanaeva made her senior international debut in 2006 at the International Tournament Schmiden where she won gold in all-around and event finals.

She competed at the World Cup stage in Mie competing in clubs and ribbon where she finished 5th.

In summer 2007, Kanaeva competed in World Cup in Corbeil-Essonnes winning the all-around gold medal, she also won gold in hoop, rope and ribbon final defeating Anna Bessonova.

She then competed at the World Cup series in Ljubljana where she won bronze in all-around, rope and silver in clubs.

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 Kanaeva from the reserve team as the replacement.

Despite the short notice, Kanaeva impressed by winning gold medals in both the individual ribbon and team competition.

A few months later, she won another gold medal in the team competition at the World Championship in Patras, Greece.

She is the only individual rhythmic gymnast in history to win two Olympic all-around gold medals, winning at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she finished with 3.75 points ahead of silver medalist Inna Zhukova, and at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she also became the oldest gymnast to win the Olympic gold.

With the opportunity to take part in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games growing, all of Kanaeva 's routines (hoop, clubs, rope and ribbon) were designed with high difficulties and her music was selected to bring out her uniqueness, one of which was her ribbon routine performed with the special edited piano version of ‘Moscow Nights (Подмосковные вечера)’.

In the beginning of 2008 season, Kanaeva still faced tough competition from veteran teammates Sessina, Kapranova and Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast, the then-World Champion, Anna Bessonova.

However, by mid-spring, Kanaeva began to establish herself by winning all the individual all-around titles in the Grand Prix and World Cup series, as well as the Russian National Championship.

At the European Championship in Turin, Italy, she established herself as the number one senior rhythmic gymnast of the Russian national team.

She defeated Bessonova and Kapranova with high scores in all her routines ( 18.875 in rope, 18.925 in hoop, 18.875 in ribbon and scored a 19.050 in clubs).

At the 2008 European Championships she became the All-around champion.

At the 2009 World Championship in Mie, Japan, Kanaeva became the first rhythmic gymnast to win all six titles.

In 2009, Kanaeva was awarded the title Merited Master of Sports in Russia.

She repeated the feat at the 2011 World Championship in Montpellier, France, equaling her own record.

Kanaeva is the only gymnast to receive a perfect score under the 30-point judging system, having done so twice: in the 2011 Grand Prix Final in Brno and in the 2012 Grand Prix in Vorarlberg.

Kanaeva was born in Omsk, Soviet Union.

Her grandmother, a devoted fan of rhythmic gymnastics and figure skating, introduced 6-year-old Kanaeva to rhythmic gymnastics.

Her first trainer, Yelena Arais (daughter of Kanaeva's later trainer, Vera Shtelbaums), was impressed by her enthusiasm for learning difficult elements.

Shtelbaums, who worked in the same gymnastics school, recalled Kanaeva spending long hours practicing even though all other students were gone, while her grandmother stood in the corridor waiting to take her home.

Besides her passion for rhythmic gymnastics, the young Kanaeva was nicknamed 'Mother Teresa' by the training staff and the parents of her childhood friends for her kindness and concern for others.

Kanaeva was selected to join a group of young rhythmic gymnasts from Omsk for try-outs in Moscow at the age of 12.

Her performance caught the eye of Amina Zaripova, who was in charge of the youth program.

Kanaeva was then invited to train at the School of the Olympic Reserve.

Kanaeva improved quickly under the supervision of Shtelbaums who was in Moscow as fellow Omsk native Irina Tchachina's coach.

After the 2012 Summer Olympics, on 15 August at the Grand Kremlin Palace, Kanaeva, along with fellow Olympic gold medalists, was awarded the Merit for the Fatherland IV Degree.

Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the honors.

On 4 July 2013, Kanaeva received the International Fair Play Award for "Sport and Life".

Kanaeva holds the record for most World titles with seventeen and thirteen European titles.