Alina Kabaeva

 Kabaeva was a part of Viner, and made her debut on the international stage for Russia in the year 1996. Kabaeva 15 was the winner of the 1998 European Championships held in Portugal. At the time she was the youngest player of the Russian squad, competing alongside internationally recognized teammates Amina Zaripova, Yana Batyrshina, as well as Irina Tchachina. Kabaeva later became the 1999 European Champion in Hungary, and won the 1999 World Title in Osaka, Japan. Kabaeva was able to claim five All-Around titles in the European Championships. Kabaeva was expected to win All-Around Gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia she made a mistake and fell off her hoop. She ran to retrieve the hoop in the area outside of the competition. Kabaeva took the bronze medal with a final score of 39.466. (Rope 9.925; Hoop 9.641, Ball 9.950; Ribbon 9.950). Yulia Raskina from Belarus was awarded the silver medal. Yulia Barsukova (from Russia) was awarded the Olympic gold.