Salma Solaun (born March 2 2005) is a Spanish

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 ...

who competed at the 2019 Junior World Rhythmic Gymnastic championships, where she won a bronze medal. She also won a silver medal at the 2022 European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, in the 3 ribbons + 2 balls final.

Personal life

Solaun took up gymnastics at age three because she was restless, so her parents signed her up for a rhythmic gymnastics class. She also tried swimming and skating, but in the end she chose rhythmic gymnastics. Salma now says that "rhythmic gymnastics is part of my life. I could not see myself without it". Her dream is to compete at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, like her idols

Almudena Cid Almudena Cid Tostado (born 15 June 1980 in Vitoria, País Vasco, Spain) is a former Spanish individual rhythmic gymnast who competed on the Spanish national team. She is the only rhythmic gymnast who has competed in four Olympic finals. She beca ...

and

Ganna Rizatdinova Hanna Serhiivna RizatdinovaAlternatively spelled as ''Ganna Rizatdinova'' or ''Anna Rizatdinova''. ( ua, Ганна Сергіївна Різатдінова; born 16 July 1993) is a Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. In the all-around event ...

Career

Junior

In 2018 Solaun was integrated in the national team while competing for Beti Aurrera. She then started taking part in international tournaments representing

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. In June 2019, after winning the junior Spanish championships, Salma was selected for the Junior World Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, where she made the ribbon final in the end winning an historical bronze, the first individual medal for Spain since 1993.

Senior

In 2020 Solaun was included in the senior national team, she won medals in competitions, such as the Moscow

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

in February. In 2021 she was among the contenders to represent Spain at the 2021 World Championship, she made the team but an injury to her left knee prevented her from competing and was replaced by her teammate Teresa Gorospe. She underwent surgery on the problem in November 2021 and was away from the sport for five months. In 2022 Solaun decided to switch to the group making her debut in 2022 at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, they were 5th in the All-Around and 5 hoops and 6th with 3 ribbons + 2 balls. In

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

they were 12th in the All-Around and therefore didn't qualify for event finals. A month later in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

they won bronze in the All-Around and silver with 5 hoops. In

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

they won 3 silver medals. They won All-Around bronze and 5 hoops and silver with 3 ribbons + 2 balls in

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. Salma took part, with Ana Arnau, Inés Bergua, Valeria Márquez, Mireia Martínez and Patricia Pérez in the

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The tournament began three days after the conclusion of the 2022 Commo ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, winning silver in the 3 ribbons + 2 balls final, and the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

where the Spanish group won three bronze medals: All-Around (earning them a spot for the

2024 Olympics ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summe ...

), 5 hoops, and team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solaun, Salma 2005 births Living people Spanish rhythmic gymnasts Medalists at the Junior World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships 21st-century Spanish women Gymnasts from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Sportspeople from Vitoria-Gasteiz