Vera Valeryevna Sessina (russian: Вера Валерьевна Сесина, born 23 February 1986) is a Russian 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 is the 2007 World All-around silver medalist, the 2006 European All-around Champion, two time (2006, 2005) Grand Prix Final All-around champion and three time (2008, 2007, 2003) Grand Prix Final All-around silver medalist. She was known for her high releve during her pivot.

Career

Sessina began training in rhythmic gymnastics in 1993 and eventually moved to the Russian training center in Novogorsk. At the 2002

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Granada, she performed only one routine, but was noticed because of her flexibility, stability and clean performance. The same year, she took part in an international event in Thiais (France) and won some medals on various apparatus. In 2003, she performed well on the Grand Prix circuit. In 2005, Sessina competed at the 2005 World Championships. She placed fifth in all-around qualifications but did not advance into the finals because teammates

Olga Kapranova Olga Sergeyevna Kapranova (russian: Ольга Серге́евна Капра́нова; born 6 December 1987) is a Russian retired individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2005 World All-around champion, the 2007 World All-around bronze medal ...

and

Irina Tchachina Irina Viktorovna Tchachina (also Chashchina or Tchashchina, russian: Ирина Викторовна Чащина; born 24 April 1982) is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in all-around, a ...

placed ahead of her. She was also sent to the 2005 European Championships. In 2006, Sessina won the all-around competition at the 2006 European 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 ...

, beating teammate and Olympic champion

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 ...

. She won the 2006 Grand Prix Final all-around 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 ...

and won three events of the

FIG The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

World Cup Final in Mie, Japan. Bedii Gimnastika 171

Sessina continued to do well in 2007, winning the all-around silver medal at the World Cup series in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

as well as silver in all-around at the 2007 Grand Prix Final. At the 2007 European Championships 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 ...

, she won the gold medal in clubs, a silver for rope, a pair of bronze medals for ribbon and hoop for the individual event finals. At the 2007 World Championships, Sessina won the all-around silver medal behind Ukrainian

Anna Bessonova Ganna Volodymyrivna Bessonova ( uk, Ганна Володимирівна Безсонова/Ganna Volodymyrivna Bessonova; born 29 July 1984) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian former individual Rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnast. She is one of the most ...

and then took the all-around bronze medal at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, ...

behind Bessonova and Kapranova. Sessina competed for a spot at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

but struggled due to injury and was beaten by compatriots

Evgenia Kanaeva Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva Order For Merit to the Fatherland, OMF (russian: Евгения Олеговна Канаева; born 2 April 1990) is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the only individual rhythmic gymnast in history to wi ...

and

. She won a gold medal in rope and bronze in hoop at the 2008 World Cup Final in

Benidorm Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotels were built, though ...

and ended her season with silver in the all-around at the 2008 Grand Prix Final. Sessina won silver medals in All-around, rope, hoop and ribbon at the 2009 European Championships held in

, Azerbaijan. She retired from competition following the event. After her retirement, Sessina was elected to the FIG Athletes Commission as a rhythmic gymnastics representative.

Routine music information

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sessina, Vera Russian rhythmic gymnasts 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Yekaterinburg Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships World Games gold medalists World Games silver medalists World Games bronze medalists Competitors at the 2005 World Games Universiade medalists in gymnastics Universiade silver medalists for Russia Universiade bronze medalists for Russia