Marfa Ekimova (born 17 January 2005) is a Russian born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

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 coor ...

. She is the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

All-Around champion.

Personal life

Born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

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-eigh ...

, at age two she moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. She took up gymnastics at age six after having tried different sports, dance and theatre but, even though she stated that when she first tried the sport she hated it, rhythmic gymnastics was her passion. She now trains up to eight hours a day. In her spare time, Marfa is a passionate music lover, especially playing the bassoon and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

, and studies A Level music at Trinity Laban Conservatory as well as completing her NCFE Level 3 Diploma/Extended Diploma in Sport and Physical Activity at the

City of Westminster College City of Westminster College is a further education college in the City of Westminster, England, founded originally as Paddington Technical Institute in 1904 and gaining its current name in 1990. The college has two centres in central London, loc ...

. Ekimova speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

and

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 dream is to compete at the

2024 Olympic Games ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summer ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Career

Ekimova debuted as a senior internationally at 2021 European Championships in Varna, representing

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

along Alice Leaper and Gemma Frizelle. She was 17th in the team competition, 33rd with hoop, 51st with ball and 37th with clubs. In October she was selected for the

World Championship 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, ...

Kitakyushu is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one of ...

, where she was 44th in the All-Around, 39th with hoop, 53rd with ball, 38th with clubs and 59th with ribbon. In 2022 she competed at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

in May, finishing 30th in the All-Around, 21st with hoop, 43rd with ball, 19th with clubs, 34th with ribbon. In June she took part in the

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, ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

with teammates Louise Christie and Alice Leaper the senior national group and juniors

Melissa Toma Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant '' ...

Elizaveta Andreeva Elizaveta is a village in the municipality of Bălți in the north of Moldova. Area: 26.77 km2, population: 3,523 at the 2004 Moldovan Census The 2004 Moldovan census was carried out between October 5 and October 12, 2004. The breakaway ...

and Nicole Kalnina . Marfa was 16th in the team competition, 23rd with hoop, 30th with ball, 28th with clubs and 31st in the All-Around. In early August she competed at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, winning bronze in the team competition with Alice Leaper and Saffron Severn, she was 4th with hoop and ball, 6th with ribbon and won an historical gold in the All-Around, becoming the first English gymnast to do so. And in September she was chosen as GBR's representative for the

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, ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) 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 parts of the country. ...

, she was 38th with hoop and 35th with ball after day one of qualification, but she had to withdraw from competition.

Achievements

* First English

to win a gold medal in the All-Around at the

Routine music information

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekimova, Marfa 2005 births Living people British rhythmic gymnasts Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom Commonwealth Games medallists in gymnastics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Gymnasts at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games English rhythmic gymnasts