Lyasan Albertovna Utiasheva (russian: link=no, Ляйсан Альбертовна Утяшева, ba, Ләйсән Альберт ҡыҙы Үтәшева, born 28 June 1985) is a Russian

TV show host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

, and former individual

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

, she was a two time

Grand Prix Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final (formerly Champions Series Final), often shortened to ''Grand Prix Final'' and abbreviated as ''GPF'', is a senior-level international figure skating competition. Medals are awarded in men's singles, ladies' ...

all-around medalist. Utiasheva is now working as a successful

businesswoman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

, founder of the online project «Sila Voli», one of the Ambassadors of the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

and a mother of two children. She was known for her extreme flexibility, her emphasis in point of landing on high releve in her back split pivots led to a career ending injury.

Career

Utiasheva's first coach was Alla Yanina.

Irina Viner Irina Alexandrovna Viner-Usmanova (russian: Ирина Александровна Винер-Усманова; born July 30, 1948) is an Uzbek-born Russian rhythmic gymnastics coach who is head coach of the Russian national team, president of the ...

invited both Utiasheva and her coach to join the Olympic Centre in Moscow, but it was only Utiasheva who moved. Utiasheva's breakthrough came in 2001 when she placed third at the Russian Championships. She then competed at the 2001 World Cup in Berlin and won gold medals in All-around and the individual apparatus finals in clubs, ball, rope and hoop. At the

2001 World Games The 2001 World Games ( ja, 2001年ワールドゲームズ, 2001-Nen wārudogēmuzu), the sixth World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Akita, Japan. Titles 140 titles (invitational sports not included) were awarded in the ...

Akita is a Japanese name and may refer to: Places * 8182 Akita, a main-belt asteroid * Akita Castle, a Nara period fortified settlement in Akita, Japan * Akita Domain, also known as Kubota Domain, feudal domain in Edo period Japan * Akita, Kumamoto, ...

, Japan, Utiasheva won four silver medals behind teammate

Irina Tchachina Irina Viktorovna Tchachina (also Chashchina or Tchashchina, russian: Ирина Викторовна Чащина; born 24 April 1982) is a retired Russian individual Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2004 Summer Olympics, 200 ...

in event finals for rope, hoop, ball and clubs. Utiasheva won the all-around silver medal at the 2001 Grand Prix Final in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

, she also won 2 gold medals in the apparatus finals in clubs and rope. She was a member of the Russian team that won gold at the 2001 World Championships in Madrid but they were later disqualified due to

Alina Kabaeva Alina Maratovna Kabaeva or Kabayeva (russian: Алина Маратовна Кабаева, ; tt-Cyrl, Әлинә Марат кызы Кабаева; born 12 May 1983) is a Russian politician, media manager and retired individual rhythmic gym ...

and Irina Tchachina testing positive for a banned

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics in ...

. In September 2002, Utiasheva hurt her foot on a bad landing while training in Samara but the X-ray revealed no fracture so she continued training and competing for the next eight months. At the 2002 Grand Prix Final in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, Utiasheva felt pain in her feet after her ringjump and withdrew from the competition after the hoop final. At a specialist clinic in Berlin,

magnetic resonance tomography Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

showed that the

navicular bone The navicular bone is a small bone found in the feet of most mammals. Human anatomy The navicular bone in humans is one of the tarsal bones, found in the foot. Its name derives from the human bone's resemblance to a small boat, caused by the ...

of both her feet had numerous fractures. She underwent surgery and returned to the sport briefly in 2004 but, unable to perform her jumps, she retired from competition and completed her career in 2006. Utiasheva continued performing in galas and also began coaching. She starred in

Alexei Nemov Alexei Yurievich Nemov (russian: link=no, Алексей Юрьевич Немов; born 28 May 1976 in Barashevo, Mordovia) is a former artistic gymnast from Russia. Nemov is most celebrated gymnasts of all time. During his career, he won fiv ...

's 2007 show with other rhythmic stars including

Yulia Barsukova Yulia Vladimirovna Barsukova (russian: Ю́лия Влади́мировна Барсуко́ва, born 31 December 1978) is a Russian retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2000 Olympic champion in the All-Around, the 2000 Grand Pri ...

. She was also one of the judges at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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, and

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Miss Russia pageants.

Personal life

Lyasan Utiasheva was born to a Bashkir mother named Zulfiya Utyasheva, and a father of mixed Russian, Polish, and

Volga Tatar The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars ( tt-Cyrl, татарлар, tatarlar) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are Russia's second-largest ethnicity after t ...

descent named Albert Utyashev. She converted to Orthodox Christianity from Islam.Еврейская община Ярославля встретилась со знаменитой спортсменкой Ляйсан Утяшевой — Иудаизм-пресс, 21/05/2006
/ref> She married Russian actor and comedian

Pavel Volya Pavel Alekseevich Volya ( rus, Павел Алексеевич Воля, , ˈpavʲɪl ˈvolʲə; born 14 March 1979) is a Russian TV host, actor and singer. A former ''KVN'' player, he first came to prominence as the "resident" of the Russian ' ...

, with whom she has a son, Robert, born in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Florida. She gave birth to a daughter, Sofiya, in Summer 2015.

Routine music information

References

External links

*
Liasan Utiasheva official website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Utiasheva, Laysan 1985 births Living people Bashkir people People from Bashkortostan Sportspeople from Bashkortostan Russian people of Tatar descent Russian people of Polish descent Russian rhythmic gymnasts Russian former Muslims Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Islam Eastern Orthodox Christians from Russia World Games silver medalists Competitors at the 2001 World Games Bashkir women