Alina Kabaeva

 Kabaeva continued to play with Viner, and made her debut on the international stage for Russia in the year 1996. Kabaeva was 15, and won the 1998 European Championships held in Portugal. She was the youngest player of the Russian team, playing alongside Yana Batyrshina, Amina Zaripova, as as Irina Tamchina and her internationally-known teammates. Kabaeva later became the 1999 European Champion in Hungary, and won the 1999 World Title in Osaka, Japan. Kabaeva won five All-Around titles in total during the European Championships. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, in Australia, Kabaeva was expected to take home Gold in the All-Around event, however she made a mistake in a performance that was otherwise outstanding--she dropped her hoop, and tried to retrieve it out 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 was awarded the silver medal. Her fellow Russian teammate, Yulia Barsukova, won the Olympic gold medal.