David Sagitovich Belyavskiy ( rus, Давид Сагитович Белявский, , dɐˈvʲid bʲɪˈlʲafskʲɪɪ̯; born 23 February 1992) is a Russian

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

and three-time Olympian, representing Russia in 2012 and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and ROC in 2020. He was part of the teams who won gold at the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and 2019 World Championships and silver at the

2016 Olympic Games The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

and 2018 World Championships. Individually Belyavskiy won an Olympic bronze medal on parallel bars in 2016 and a World silver and bronze medal on pommel horse and parallel bars, respectively, in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. Additionally he is the

2019 European Games The 2nd European Games 2019 (, ''Jeŭrapiejskija huĺni 2019''; , ''Yevropeyskiye igry 2019''), also known as the 2019 European Games or Minsk 2019 (; ), were held in Minsk, Belarus, from 21 June to 30 June 2019. The games featured 200 events in ...

champion, a five-time European Games medalist, seven-time European champion, and 18-time European medalist.

Personal life

Belyavskiy was born in

Votkinsk Votkinsk (; ), also known as Votka (; ), is an industrial town in the Udmurt Republic, Russia. The population in 2021 is 97,471. History It was established in 1759, initially as a center for metallurgical enterprises, and the economic focus on me ...

Udmurtia Udmurtia, officially the Udmurt Republic, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russi ...

. His parents died early in his life and he was raised by his grandparents, growing up in a boarding school. He attended

Ural State University The Ural State University (, , often shortened to USU, УрГУ) is a public university located in the city of Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russian Federation. Founded in 1920, it was an exclusive educational establishment made of several in ...

. He married his fiancée, Maria, on October 30, 2016, in

Santorini Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southern ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. In September 2017, their daughter, Alyssia Belyavskaya, was born. During an interview for the

Match TV Match! TV () is a Russian free-to-air federal sports television channel owned by Gazprom Media. The channel began broadcasting on November 1, 2015, and had been created in accordance with the order of Russian president Vladimir Putin, with the a ...

in September 2022, which coincided with the

2022 Russian mobilization On 21 September 2022, seven months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia declared a partial mobilization of Reservist, military reservists. The decision was made a day after the announcement of 2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occ ...

, Belyavskiy said that there was no choice and he would go and serve in the Russian army if he received call-up papers.

Career

Belyavskiy competed in his first world championships in 2010, and finished 6th in all-around at the

2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011, at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the Féd� ...

2012

In 2012 Belyavskiy became the national champion on parallel bars. Belyavskiy won the Russian Cup all-around in 2012. He was part of the Russian team that competed at the 2012 Europeans where they won the silver medal behind Great Britain. Belyavskiy then competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, finishing 5th in the all-around finals and 7th in the pommel horse final. He won bronze in the all-around at the 2012 Stuttgart World Cup.

2013

Belyavskiy began his 2013 season by winning the Russian National all-around title and defending his parallel bars title. Later, he became the 2013 European individual all-around champion with an overall score of 89.799 points edging out British gymnast

Max Whitlock Max Antony Whitlock (born 13 January 1993) is an English artistic gymnast. With fourteen medals and six titles in Olympic and World Championships, Whitlock is the most successful gymnast in British history. He is also the most successful pomme ...

for the gold. He won bronze in the parallel bars final with a score of 15.533 and placed 5th on floor with a score of 14.4. Belyavskiy, alongside the Russian team (

Nikolai Kuksenkov Nikolai Yulievich Kuksenkov (, ; born 2 June 1989) is a retired Russian gymnast who won a silver medal in the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed for Ukraine for many years and moved to Russia after the 2012 Summer Olympics in Lo ...

Emin Garibov Emin Nadirovich Garibov (; ; born 8 September 1990 in Moscow) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast of Azerbaijani descent. He is the two-time (2013, 2012) European Horizontal Bar champion. Personal life Garibov is the younger son of Azerbai ...

Denis Ablyazin Denis Mikhailovich Ablyazin ( rus, Денис Михайлович Аблязин, , dʲɪˈnʲis ɐˈblʲæzʲɪn, born 3 August 1992) is a Russian artistic gymnast. Ablyazin is Olympic Champion 2020 in Tokyo and a seven-time Olympic Games med ...

and

Nikita Ignatyev Nikita Alekseevich Ignatyev (, born 21 June 1992 in Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. He is the 2015 European Games All-around bronze medalist. Competitive history Career Ignatyev has started gymna ...

) won the team gold at the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (; ), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 university athletes from 162 countries participated ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

. He won the all-around bronze medal (tied with Ukrainian gymnast

Oleg Verniaiev Oleg Yuriyovych Verniaiev (; born 29 September 1993) is a Ukrainian artistic gymnast. He is the 2016 Olympic parallel bars champion and individual all-around silver medalist. Verniaiev is also the 2014 World parallel bars champion, the 201 ...

). At the event finals, he won a bronze medal on floor, and a silver medal on parallel bars behind compatriot Garibov. Roughly a week before the 2013 World Championships Belyavskiy sustained an ankle injury. He went on to compete at the World Championships however only qualified to the all around final in 14th place, coming 12th in the final with a score of 86.274.

2014

In 2014 Belyavskiy won his 2nd consecutive national all around title and his 3rd consecutive national parallel bars title. On May 19–25, at the 2014 European Championships in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Belyavskiy contributed scores of 15.466 (floor), 13.200 (pommel horse), 15.166 (vault), 15.266 (parallel bar) and 14.600 (horizontal bar) for Russia and along with teammates (Denis Ablyazin, Aleksandr Balandin, Nikita Ignatyev, Nikolai Kuksenkov) won Russia the team event gold medal with a total score of 267.959, over 2 points ahead of defending champions

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. In event finals, he won silver on parallel bars with a score of 15.566 behind Ukrainian

. and placed 8th in the floor final. He also placed 8th in the floor final with a score of 14.866. At the World Championships in Nanning, China, Belyavskiy qualified 2nd into the all around final, as well as qualifying to the high bar final and team final. Belyavskiy competed on floor, pommel horse, vault, parallel bars and high bar to help the Russian team of Belyavskiy, Denis Ablyazin, Nikita Ignatyev, Nikolai Kuksenkov, Daniil Kazachkov and

Ivan Stretovich Ivan Alexeyevich Stretovich (; born 6 October 1996) is a Russian artistic gymnast. He won a silver medal in the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Competitive history Career Stretovich started gymnastics at six years old when his mother ...

to a 5th-place finish in the team final. He also placed 5th in the all around final, scoring 89.765, and 5th in the high bar final, scoring 14.733.

2015

In 2015, Belyavskiy won his third consecutive national all-around title and his fourth consecutive national parallel bars title. 2015 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Pommel Horse - Medalists 10

At the 2015 European Championships in Montpellier, France, Belyavskiy had a rough time in the qualifications round, qualifying sixth to the all around final and third to the floor final, but did not make any other finals. In the all-around final, he suffered a fall on pommel horse in the second rotation, but made a comeback to win silver with 88.131 behind

. Belyavskiy also won silver in the floor final behind Briton

Kristian Thomas Kristian James Thomas (born 14 February 1989 in Wolverhampton) is a British former artistic gymnast. A long-standing member of both the England and Great Britain men's teams, he was a member of the British team that won gold in the 2012 Europe ...

with a score of 15.066. In June, Belyavskiy competed in the

2015 European Games The 1st European Games (), also known as the 2015 European Games or Baku 2015 (), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the Europe ...

, winning gold in the team competition. Due to a wrist injury, he did not compete in the all-around, but he qualified for the floor, pommel horse and parallel bars finals. He won the bronze in the floor final with a score of 15.000, placed fourth in the pommel horse final with a score of 13.900, and won the silver in the parallel bars final with a score of 15.700, only 0.033 points behind winner

Oleg Stepko Oleg Stepko (, born 25 March 1994 in Zaporizhzhya) is a Ukrainian (until 2014), Azerbaijani (2014–2018) and Russian (since March 2018) gymnast. Career Oleg competed for the national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men's artistic team ...

. At the 2015 World Championships in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Belyavskiy competed on all events in the team final to help team

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

finish in fourth place. In the all-around final he placed eleventh with a score of 88.031 after a fall on vault.

2016

At the 2016 Russian National Championships Belyavskiy won a gold medal with his team. After the first day he was leading the all around competition with a score of 90.367 however on the second day he suffered multiple falls and mistakes to place 4th score 86.266, giving him a total of 176.633 to win the bronze medal behind Nikolai Kuksenkov and

Nikita Nagornyy Nikita Vladimirovich Nagornyy ( rus, Никита Владимирович Нагорный, , nʲɪˈkʲitə nɐˈɡornɨɪ̯, born 12 February 1997 in Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast, Russia) is a Russian artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian, r ...

. He defended his national title on the parallel bars, winning for the 5th consecutive year. In May, Belyavskiy competed at the 2016 European Championships. In qualifying he competed on every event except rings to help Russia qualify in first place to the team final, as well as qualifying himself to four event finals: floor, pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar. In the team final, Belyavskiy again competed on every event except rings, scoring a 15.166 on floor, a 15.433 on pommel horse, 15.233 on vault, 15.933 on parallel bars and 14.733 on high bar, helping Russia to win team gold with a score of 271.378, nearly 3 points ahead of Great Britain. In event finals he became European champion on parallel bars with a score of 16.033, ahead of 2014 world champion Oleg Verniaiev. He also won bronze on high bar (14.941), silver on pommel horse (15.233) and placed 4th on floor (15.200), making him the most decorated gymnast at the European Championships. He was also awarded the

Longines Prize for Elegance The Longines Prize for Elegance is an award given by Longines to a male and female currently at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. The winners receive a trophy, a cheque, and a Longines watc ...

. On August 6–16, Belyavskiy then competed with the Russian team (together with

, Denis Ablyazin, Nikolai Kuksenkov and Nikita Nagornyy) at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. The Russian team qualified in 3rd place to the team final, with Belyavskiy also qualifying in 3rd place to the all around, 8th place to the pommel horse final and 2nd place to the parallel bars final. In the team final he contributed scores of 14.666 on floor, 15.500 on pommel horse, 15.033 on vault, 15.800 on parallel bars and 14.958 on horizontal bar towards the Russian team's silver medal- the first Olympic team medal for Russia since 2000, and the first team medal for Russia since the 2006 World Championships. They won silver with a score of 271.452, 0.331 ahead of China, who were the defending Olympic champions. In the all around final Belyavskiy finished in 4th place with a score of 90.498, only 0.143 behind bronze medalist

. In the pommel horse final he finished in 5th place with a score of 15.400, and in the parallel bars final he won the bronze medal with a score of 15.783, behind former world champions Oleg Verniaiev and

Danell Leyva Danell Johan Leyva Gonzalez (born October 30, 1991) is a Cuban American former gymnast who competed for the United States. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and is the 2012 Olympic individual all-arou ...

2017

Belyavskiy was not initially planning to compete in the 2017 Russian National Championships due to

kidney stone Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cr ...

problems, however he decided to compete anyway. He did not compete in the all around competition, showing routines on every event except rings in the qualification round. Balyavskiy was unable to defend his nation title on parallel bars as he did not qualify for the event final, however he did win his first national titles on pommel horse, with a score of 14.3, and high bar, with a score of 13.8. He also placed 5th in the floor final with a score of 13.5. Belyavskiy was then named to the team for the 2017 European Championships. At these championships, Belavskiy performed well, winning gold on the pommel horse, getting bronze on the horizontal bar, and placing fourth on the parallel bars.

2018

Belyavskiy competed in the 2018 Russian National Championships, winning individual gold on pommel horse, silver on the all-around, still rings and high bar, and bronze on the team event. He also placed fourth on the individual floor exercise event. He also competed at the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburg ...

, securing the team bronze medal as part of the Russian squad while capturing individual the silver medal on parallel bars and placing fourth on pommel horse. Lastly, at the

2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships The 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships was the 48th edition of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The competition was held from October 25 – November 3, 2018, at the Aspire Dome, Aspire Academy Dome in Doha, Doha, Qatar. It ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, Belyavskiy took the team silver medal as part of the Russian squad, and finished in seventh place on the individual pommel horse event.

2019

In June, Belyavskiy competed at the European Games in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. He placed first all-around, eighth on floor exercise, fifth on high bar, fourth on parallel bars, first on pommel horse, and eighth on rings. In October, Belyavskiy was part of the Russian gold-medal-winning squad who won the all-around team event gold medal at the

2019 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships The 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Stuttgart, Germany from October 4–13, 2019. The championships took place at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, and was the third time the city of Stuttgart hosted the event following the ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He also placed eighth in the individual pommel horse event final.

2021

Belyavskiy competed at the Russian Championships where he finished third in the all-around behind

Aleksandr Kartsev Aleksandr Nikolayevich Kartsev (Russian: Александр Николаевич Карцев; born 31 December 2001) is a Russian artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on ...

and

Artur Dalaloyan Artur Grachyevich Dalaloyan (Russian: Артур Грачьевич Далалоян) born 26 April 1996 is a Russian artistic gymnast who represented ROC at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He was part of the teams who won gold at the 2020 Olympic G ...

. He was selected to compete at the upcoming

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. He qualified to the all-around, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar event finals. During the all-around final he finished second behind compatriot Nikita Nagornyy. During event finals he won gold on horizontal bar, silver on parallel bars behind

Ferhat Arıcan Ferhat Arıcan (born 28 July 1993) is a Turkish artistic gymnast. He represented Turkey at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. At the 2020 Olympic Games he became the first Turkish gymnast to win an Olympic medal, winning bronze on the parallel ba ...

, and placed sixth on pommel horse. Belyavskiy next competed at the Russian Cup where he won gold on pommel horse and parallel bars. Afterwards he was selected to represent the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside Denis Ablyazin, Dalaloyan, and Nagornyy. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo Belyavskiy helped the team qualify to the team final in third place and individually qualified to the pommel horse and parallel bars event finals; he finished tenth in the all-around qualification but did not advance to the final due to Nagornyy and Dalaloyan placing higher. During the

team final A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

Belyavskiy competed on three events and helped the team finish first with a combined score of 262.500; this was the first team Olympic gold medal for Russian athletes in 25 years. On 11 September, he along with his Olympic Team were awarded with

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') 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 and efforts have been aimed at ...

by President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

.Awarding state decorations to winners of the XXXII Olympic Games in Tokyo
kremlin.ru. 11 September 2021

Competitive history

References

External links