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 gymnast, who has been designated Honoured Master of Sports by the Russian government. Kabaeva is one of the most decorated gymnasts in rhythmic gymnastic history, with 2

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid o ...

s, 14 World Championship medals, and 21 European Championship medals. She is reportedly the longtime mistress of

Russian president The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

. From 2007 to 2014, Kabaeva was a State Duma Deputy from

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...

. In September 2014, Kabaeva became the chairwoman of the board of directors of the .

Early life and family

Kabaeva was born on 12 May 1983 in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the daughter of Lyubov Kabaeva and Marat Kabayev, a professional football player. Her father is a Muslim

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

and her mother is

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 ...

. Her younger sister, Leysan Kabaeva, is the general director of a real estate agency and in 2016 was appointed as a judge of the Almetyevsk City Court in

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

by Russian president

. Due to Marat's career, the family often travelled to different places in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and Russia.

Rhythmic gymnastics career

Early career

Kabaeva started rhythmic gymnastics at age three, with coach Margarita Samuilovna. In 1993, she represented

at an international competition in Japan. In her early teens, Kabaeva moved to Moscow, where her mother took her to the Russian head coach,

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 ...

1996–1999

Kabaeva stayed with Viner, and made her international debut representing Russia in 1996. The 15-year-old Kabaeva won the 1998 European Championships in Portugal. At the time, she was the youngest member of the Russian squad, competing alongside internationally recognized teammates

Amina Zaripova Amina Vasilovna Zaripova (russian: Амина Василовна Зарипова; tt-Cyrl, Әминә Васил кызы Зарипова, born 10 August 1976) is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast who now works as an elite rhythmi ...

and Yana Batyrshina as well as

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 ...

. Kabaeva then became the 1999 European Champion in Hungary, and won the 1999 World Title in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan. Kabaeva went on to win a total of 5 All-Around titles at the European Championships. At the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, in Australia, Kabaeva was expected to claim Gold in All-Around; however, due to an error in an otherwise exceptional performance—she dropped her hoop, and ran to retrieve it outside of the competition area—Kabaeva won the bronze medal, with the final score of 39.466 (Rope 9.925, Hoop 9.641, Ball 9.950, Ribbon 9.950). Belarus's

Yulia Raskina Yulia Raskina (; born April 9, 1982 in Minsk, Belarus) is a Belarusian former rhythmic gymnast and trainer. She is the 2000 Olympics silver medalist, the 1999 World All-around silver medalist, the two time (2000,1999) European All-around silve ...

took the silver medal, while fellow Russian teammate,

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 ...

, won the Olympic gold medal.

2001–2004

At the 2001 World Championships in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain, Kabaeva won the gold medal for the Ball, Clubs, Hoop,

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...

, the Individual All-Around, and the Team competitions. At the

2001 Goodwill Games The 2001 Goodwill Games was the fifth and final edition of the international multi-sport event. The competition was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 29 August to 9 September 2001. A total around 1300 athletes took part in 14 sporti ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia, Kabaeva won the gold medal for the Ball, Clubs, and Rope competitions, and the Silver in the Individual All-Around, and Hoop. However, Kabaeva and her teammate,

, tested positive to 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 i ...

(

furosemide Furosemide is a loop diuretic medication used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease. It may also be used for the treatment of high blood pressure. It can be taken by injection into a vein or by m ...

), and were stripped of their medals. Viner, the Russian head coach, who also served as the Vice President of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee at the time, said her gymnasts had been taking a food supplement called "Hyper", that contained mild diuretics, which, according to Viner, the gymnasts were taking for premenstrual syndrome. When the supply ran out shortly before the Goodwill Games, the team physiotherapist restocked at a local pharmacy. According to Viner, the supplement sold there was fake and contained furosemide. The Committee requested that the Goodwill Games Organizing Committee nullify Kabaeva and Tchachina's results. The FIG also nullified their results from the World Championships in Madrid, causing Ukraine's

Tamara Yerofeeva Tamara Anatoliyivna Yerofeyeva ( uk, Тамара Анатоліївна Єрофеєва, russian: Тамара Анатольевна Ерофеева; born 4 March 1982)2002 European Championships, where she took first place in the individual all-around. Kabaeva gained the 2003 World Title in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary. Kabaeva won the All-Around Gold Medal at the 2003 World Championships, as well as the event final in Ribbon and Ball ahead of

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

from Ukraine. In 2004, Kabaeva won the All-Around Gold at the 2004 European Championships 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. At the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, Greece, Kabaeva won the gold medal in the Individual All-Around for Rhythmic Gymnastics, with a score of 108.400 (Hoop 26.800, Ball 27.350, Clubs 27.150, Ribbon 27.100), the Silver Medal went to her teammate,

2005–2007

In October 2004, Kabaeva announced her retirement from the sport. However, in June 2005, the Russian Head Coach Irina Viner announced a possible comeback. Kabaeva resumed her sport career at an Italy-Russia friendly competition in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, on 10 September 2005. On 5 March 2006, Kabaeva won the Gazprom Moscow Grand Prix, with fellow Russians Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova, taking the Second and Third places. Kabaeva won the silver medal in All-Around at the 2006 European Championships, behind teammate, Sessina. At the 2007 European Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan; Kabaeva,

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 Kapranova were chosen to represent Russia. However, on the eve of the competition, Kabaeva withdrew due to an injury. Viner selected rising upcoming gymnast

Evgenia Kanaeva Evgeniya Olegovna Kanaeva 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 win two Olympic all-around gold meda ...

from Russia's National Team as the replacement. Kabaeva finished fourth in All-Around qualifications at the 2007 World Championships, and did not advance into the finals due to the two per country rule, with Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova placing ahead of Kabaeva.

2008 Beijing Olympics

The plans for Kabaeva's participation in the 2008 Olympics were repeatedly announced, but this did not happen.

Doping scandal

In 2001, the leaders of the world rhythmic gymnastics Russian women Alina Kabaeva and Irina Chashchina were convicted of using

, as a result of which both were disqualified for two years. The athletes were stripped of all the awards of the 2001 Goodwill Games and World Cup. From August 2001 to August 2002, these gymnasts were not allowed to take part in any competitions. The second year of disqualification was given conditionally; that is, they were allowed to compete in official tournaments, but the strictest control was established over them.

Contributions to rhythmic gymnastics

Kabaeva revolutionized rhythmic gymnastics as one of the few gymnasts to have performed new skills and elements, including the back split pivot with hand help (also known as "The Kabaeva"), the ring position with a slow full turn, and the backscale pivot that she first performed.RG named elements
Gym Power

Rhythmic gymnastic achievements

* Won the 1998 European Championships in the all-around in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, Portugal, at 15 years of age, the youngest ever to do so. * Leveled with Elena Karpukhina as one of the youngest Rhythmic Gymnast to win the All-Around

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, ...

in 1999

at 16 years old, until Yana Kudryavtseva of the Russian Federation broke the record winning the All-Around 2013 World Championships at 15 years old. * Performed the backscale pivot first. * Holds the record for the most European All-Around titles, in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2004. * Won all Grand-slam titles, and is only one of the three rhythmic gymnasts (with

Ekaterina Serebrianskaya Kateryna Serebrianska (born 25 October 1977 in Simferopol) is a Ukrainian former individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 1996 Olympics gold medalist, the 1995 World All-around champion, a two time (1995,1996) European All-around champion, and ...

and

) ever to do so. The titles are: Olympics,

, European Championships, World Cup Final, and Grand Prix Final. * Became a six time Russian National All-Around Champion, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, and 2007.

Detailed Olympic results

Routine music information

Post-retirement

Kabaeva was among the six Russian athlete torch bearers who carried the Olympic flame through Fisht Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the

2014 Sochi Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. Her selection as a torch bearer generated controversy in the international media because of her alleged close relationship with President Vladimir Putin. In 2015, Kabaeva was an honorary guest at the 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. In 2017, she became the official FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Ambassador at the 2017 World Championships in Pesaro, Italy.

Political and media careers

Since 2005, Kabaeva has been a member of the

Public Chamber of Russia The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation (russian: Общественная палата Российской Федерации), sometimes shortened to Civic Chamber (russian: Общественная палата), is a consultative civil s ...

. Since February 2008, she has been chairwoman of the Public Council of the , the media group that controls

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes i ...

, Channel One and REN TV. Between 2007 and 2014, Kabaeva was a Member of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, representing the

party. In her capacity as a Member of Parliament, she voted for a number of controversial laws that were speedily adopted in 2012 and 2013, including the Anti-Magnitsky bill banning inter-country adoption (of Russian orphans) by families in the United States, as well as the

Russian gay propaganda law The Russian federal law "for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values", also referred to in English-language media as Russia's gay propaganda law or anti-gay law, is a bill that was una ...

making the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors a punishable offense, the extrajudicial ban on access to websites which may host materials violating copyright laws, and the reorganization of the Academy of Sciences. In September 2014, Kabaeva resigned from the Duma and accepted the position of chair of the board of directors of the National Media Group, the largest Russian

media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According to th ...

. She has faced criticism for her lack of experience and high salary when appointed to political and media posts.

Other ventures

In 2001, Kabaeva appeared in the Japanese movie, '' Red Shadow'', performing a gymnastics routine. In January 2011, Kabaeva appeared on the cover of '' Vogue Russia''. In the same month, she launched her singing career, taking to the stage for the first time.

Sanctions

Following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, sanctions were imposed on numerous Russian political and business leaders. In April 2022, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

prepared sanctions against Kabaeva, however the United States government withheld the sanctions for fear of escalating tensions between Russia and the United States due to her alleged relationship with Putin. The Office of Foreign Assets Control added Kabaeva to the

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

on 3 August 2022, which results in her assets being frozen and U.S. persons being prohibited from dealing with her. On 13 May 2022, Kabaeva and her grandmother Anna Zatseplina were sanctioned by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. On 27 May,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

imposed sanctions on Kabaeva. On 3 June, she was sanctioned by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. On 1 July, she was sanctioned by Australia.

Personal life

In April 2008, the '' Moskovsky Korrespondent'' reported that Kabaeva was engaged to

. The story was denied and the newspaper was shut down. In the following years, the status of Kabaeva and Putin's relationship became a topic of speculation, including allegations that they have multiple children together. In July 2013, Kabaeva said that she did not have children. In March 2015, she was reported to have given birth to a daughter at the VIP hospital of Saint Ann in

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, Switzerland. In 2019, she reportedly gave birth to twin sons at the Kulakov maternity clinic in Moscow. However, the Swiss newspaper ''

SonntagsZeitung TX Group AG (formerly Tamedia AG) is a media company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Through a portfolio of daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, as well as own printing facilities, it is the largest media group in ...

'' reported in 2022 that a Swiss

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined ...

of Russian origin assisted at both births, stating that the first in 2015 was of a boy and the second in 2019 of another boy, and that both were Putin's sons. According to United States and European security officials, Kabaeva has spent long periods of time in Switzerland since 2015, at residences in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

and Cologny.

Honours

*: Honoured Master of Sports of the Russian Federation (1999) *:

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 ...

(2001) *:

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by P ...

IV Degree (2005) *:

Russian Federation Presidential Certificate of Honour The Russian Federation Presidential Certificate of Honour (russian: Почётная грамота Президента Российской Федерации) is an honorary award bestowed by the President of the Russian Federation to deserving ...

(2013) *: Order of Honour (2015)

References

External links

* * *
Alina Kabaeva
at r-gymnastics.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kabaeva, Alina 1983 births Living people Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Members of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Olympic bronze medalists for Russia Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic gymnasts of Russia Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health alumni Olympic medalists in gymnastics European champions in gymnastics Sportspeople from Tashkent Russian rhythmic gymnasts Russian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in gymnastics Russian people of Uzbek descent Russian people of Tatar descent Tatar people of Russia Tatar sportspeople Tatar politicians Russian sportsperson-politicians Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships Converts to Christianity from Islam Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Recipients of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Sixth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) Family of Vladimir Putin Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List Russian individuals subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Russian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions