Vera Leonidovna Biryukova (russian: Вера Леонидовна Бирюкова; born 11 April 1998 in

Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...

Omsk Oblast Omsk Oblast (russian: О́мская о́бласть, ''Omskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southwestern Siberia. The oblast has an area of . Its population is 1,977,665 ( 2010 Census) with the majority, 1.12 ...

, Russia) is a Russian group

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 co ...

who was the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

Group all-around champion.

Career

Biryukova was born in

. She began

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

at five years old under the encouragement of her mother,

Vera Shtelbaums Vera Shtelbaums (russian: Вера Штельбаумс; born April 24, 1937 in Omsk, Russia) is a Russian rhythmic gymnastics coach. Coaching career Following her graduation from the Omsk Institute of Physical Education in 1959, Shtelbaums w ...

. Her first coach was Natalia Glemba. She studied at Omsk schools number 61 and 125, where she began training with Elena Arais and her mother. Biryukova was briefly included as part of Russia's group, but was later relegated to the reserve team. In 2016 Biryukova returned as a member of the Russian national group, replacing

Ksenia Poliakova Ksenia Poliakova (russian: Ксения Витальевна Полякова; born ) is a Russian group rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The ...

. She competed with the Russian group at the 2016 World Cup series in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

and

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 ...

. On August 19–21, Biryukova was a member of the gold-winning Russian group (with

Anastasia Maksimova Anastasia Ivanovna Maksimova ( rus, Анастасия Ивановна Максимова, , ɐnəstɐˈsʲiɪ̯ə mɐˈksʲiməvə; born 27 June 1991) is a Russian group rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Olympics Group champion, the 2015 Wor ...

Maria Tolkacheva Maria Yuryevna Tolkacheva (russian: Мария Юрьевна Толкачёва; born ) is a Russian group rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Olympics Group all-around champion, a four-time (2015, 2017-2019) World Group all-around champion, the ...

Anastasia Bliznyuk Anastasia Ilyinichna Bliznyuk ( rus, Анастасия Ильинична Близнюк, , ɐnəstɐˈsʲiɪ̯ə blʲɪˈzʲnʲuk; born 28 June 1994) is a Russian group rhythmic gymnast. She is a two-time Gymnastics at the 2012 Summer Olympics ...

Anastasiia Tatareva Anastasia Alekseyevna Tatareva ( rus, Анастасия Алексеевна Татарева, , ɐnəstɐˈsʲiɪ̯ə tɐˈtarʲɪvə; born 19 July 1997) is a Russian group rhythmic gymnast. She is 2016 Olympics Group all-around champion, a t ...

) that won gold at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil.

Awards

* Honored Master of Sports of Russia (2016). *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...

(August 25, 2016) - for outstanding sports achievements at the Games XXXI Olympiad in 2016 in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), manifested the will to win and sense of purpose.Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 25.08.2016 № 429 «О награждении государственными наградами Российской Федерации»
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Detailed Olympic results

References

External links

* * * * 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Omsk Russian rhythmic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for Russia Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in gymnastics FISU World University Games gold medalists for Russia Universiade bronze medalists for Russia Gymnasts at the 2019 European Games European Games gold medalists for Russia European Games bronze medalists for Russia European Games medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade 21st-century Russian women {{Russia-rhythmic-gymnastics-bio-stub