Zarina Mayramovna Gizikova (russian: Зарина Майрамовна Гизикова; born 20 June 1985 in

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia. It is located i ...

, North Ossetia,

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

) is a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

retired 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 co ...

, an Honored Master of Sports of Russia and the 2002 Russian National All-around champion.

Career

Gizikova originally trained in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

under the

Deriugins School The Deriugina School, also known as the Deriugins' School is a rhythmic gymnastics club in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is run by the mother and daughter team of Albina Deriugina, who is the head coach, and Irina Deriugina, who acts as the assistant coach. Iri ...

of Rhythmic Gymnastics. Gizikova and her family reclocated, continuing her training at the Olympic Center for Rhythmic Gymnastics 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 millio ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

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 ...

facilitated Gizikova to be under the guidance of Personal trainer

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 ...

, who then was also the coach of

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 ...

. Gizikova was a very dynamic gymnast having excellent technique work led to success early in her career. Gizikova became member of Russian national team in 1997. She appeared in junior competition in World Club event in 1998 and 1999 at Aeon Cup in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Gizikova began appearing in senior competitions in 2000. With the suspension of Kabaeva and Tchachina in a year for doping, Gizikova and teammate

Laysan Utiasheva Lyasan Albertovna Utiasheva (russian: link=no, Ляйсан Альбертовна Утяшева, ba, Ләйсән Альберт ҡыҙы Үтәшева, born 28 June 1985) is a Russian TV show host, socialite, and former individual rhythmic ...

saw their emergence as Russia's new leading gymnasts. Gizikova became Russian National champion in 2002 and she was a member of the Russian Team that won gold at the 2002 European Championships. Unfortunately, due to her bad performance in her clubs routine, the russian coach

gave her a hard and controversial sermon, which cast doubt her future in the team. She won silver in hoop at the 2002 World Cup Final in Stuttgart and won two gold medals (ball, hoop) at the 2002 Grand Prix Final in Innsbruck. At the 2003 European Championships in

Riesa Riesa is a town in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the river Elbe, approximately northwest of Dresden. History The name ''Riesa'' is derived from Slavic ''Riezowe''. This name, romanised as "Rezoa", appears first i ...

, Gizikova won gold in ball and silver in hoop. She continued her success winning bronze in all-around and event finals at the

2003 Summer Universiade The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea. Emblem * The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade. * It sym ...

in Daegu. Gizikova later began again to struggle with consistency and with the reemergence of Kabaeva and Tchachina in Russia's National team saw Gizikova being overshadowed by her teammates and in her later career; in 2004 saw the rise of younger teammates

Vera Sessina Vera Valeryevna Sessina (russian: Вера Валерьевна Сесина, born 23 February 1986) is a Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2007 World All-around silver medalist, the 2006 European All-around Champion, two time (2 ...

and

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 ...

, Gizikova finally completed her career in 2005. In 2007, Gizikova and her sisters began coaching at the

Palace of Sports Palace of Sports or Sports Palace (russian: Дворец спорта) is a generic name of comprehensive indoors sports venues introduced in the Soviet Union (compare with Palace of Culture) of big size that includes various sports halls and auxil ...

in Storgino, Moscow and opened up their own gymnastics club.

Personal life

Zarina has two older sisters (Inessa and Aziruchs Gizikova) who were also former rhythmic gymnasts. Her father was a former Soviet wrestler from North Ossetia and her mother, a former soviet skier of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

descent.

References

External links

*
Zarina Gizikova Profile

Rhythmic Gymnastics Results
* 1985 births Living people Russian rhythmic gymnasts Sportspeople from Vladikavkaz Russian people of Korean descent Ossetian people Russian people of Ossetian descent Universiade medalists in gymnastics Universiade bronze medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships {{Russia-rhythmic-gymnastics-bio-stub