Ksenia Afanasyeva

Ksenia Dmitrievna Afanasyeva (Ксения Дмитриевна Афанасьева; born 13 September 1991) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Afanasyeva competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, in July 2005.

She won the bronze medal in the all-around competition with a total score of 36.550, behind Vanessa Ferrari of Italy (37.925) and fellow Russian Karina Myasnikova (37.000).

In event finals, she placed fourth on vault and won bronze medals on balance beam and floor exercise.

She also helped Russia win the team competition.

In April, Afanasyeva competed at the European Championships in Volos, Greece, where Russia won the junior team competition.

She performed on vault, uneven bars and beam.

In 2007, Afanasyeva placed second on balance beam at the World Cup event in Paris, scoring 15.175.

In April 2008, she competed at the European Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, France, contributing scores of 14.575 on vault and 14.100 on floor toward the Russian team's second-place finish.

The following month, at the World Cup event in Tianjin, China, she placed second on vault, scoring 14.350; third on uneven bars, scoring 15.075; and fifth on balance beam, scoring 15.275.

At the end of May, she competed at the World Cup event in Moscow.

She placed seventh on vault, scoring 13.887, and second on floor, scoring 14.775.

Afanasyeva was a member of the Russian team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, along with Ludmilla Ezhova, Svetlana Kliukina, Ekaterina Kramarenko, Anna Pavlova, and Ksenia Semyonova.

In qualifications, she placed sixth in the all-around with a score of 60.800 but did not advance to the final due to the two-per-country rule (only two gymnasts per country can advance to each final, and Pavlova and Semyonova finished ahead of her).

In the team final, she contributed scores of 15.075 on vault, 14.925 on uneven bars, and 14.375 on floor toward the Russian team's fourth-place finish.

In the balance beam final, she placed seventh with a score of 14.825.

In April, Afanasyeva competed at the European Championships in Milan, Italy.

She placed second in the all-around final with a score of 57.600 and fourth in the uneven bars final, scoring 14.650.

She was named to Russia's four-gymnast delegation for the 2009 World Championships in London, but was unable to compete because of a back injury.

Afanasyeva competed at the Pacific Rim Championships in Melbourne, Australia, in April and placed third in the all-around competition with a score of 57.450.

In event finals, she placed third on uneven bars, scoring 14.250; fourth on balance beam, scoring 14.525; and sixth on floor, scoring 13.675.

The following month, she competed at the World Cup event in Moscow, where she placed third on balance beam, scoring 13.500.

In July, she won the all-around competition at the Japan Cup in Tokyo with a score of 58.350.

In October, at the World Championships in Rotterdam, she contributed a score of 14.800 on floor toward the Russian team's first-place finish.

In the floor final, she placed eighth with a score of 12.700.

In May, Afanasyeva competed at the World Cup event in Moscow.

She placed second on balance beam, scoring 14.200, and second on floor, scoring 14.200.

At the World Championships in Tokyo in October, she contributed scores of 14.800 on vault and 14.633 on floor toward Russia's second-place finish in the team final.

She placed seventh in the all-around competition with a score of 56.732 and first on floor with a score of 15.133.

In March, Afanasyeva competed at the Russian National Championships in Penza and placed second in the all-around with a score of 58.387.

In event finals, she placed first on balance beam, scoring 14.980, and second on floor, scoring 14.180.

She sustained a small leg injury but was able to return to competition in June at the Russian Cup, where she placed fourth in the all-around with a score of 56.067.

She is the 2011 world champion on floor exercise, the 2013 and 2015 European floor champion, and the 2013 Universiade vault and floor champion.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Afanasyeva was the captain of the Russian team, which consisted of her, Anastasia Grishina, Viktoria Komova, Aliya Mustafina, and Maria Paseka.

She described herself as more nervous than the rest of the team, but said, "Gymnastics is about beauty and grace. We are strong and beautiful. Our rivals may have upgraded their routines before us, yet we represent beauty. My girls didn’t surprise me at the European Championships because I see them every day. I know what they are capable of doing."

Afanasyeva scored 15.066 on balance beam and 14.833 on floor during qualifications on 29 July.

In the team final on 31 July, she contributed scores of 14.833 on balance beam and 14.333 on floor toward the Russian team's second-place finish.

In event finals on 7 August, she placed fifth on balance beam, scoring 14.583, and sixth on floor after stepping out of bounds twice and scoring 14.566.

Afanasyeva began her year by performing at a gala called "From London to Rio", along with Paseka, Pavlova, Sandra Izbașa, Cătălina Ponor, and other gymnasts.

Widely regarded as one of the most original and artistic gymnasts of all time, she retired from elite gymnastics in July 2016 due to kidney disease, a month away from the 2016 Summer Olympics, for which she was the Russian team's first alternate.