It has been an exciting few months for Aline, TK student and gymnast. In December 2018, she was in Dubai for the International Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition (DuGym Cup Dubai) where she competed with more than 400 gymnasts and 60 delegations from 18 different countries.

Aline was up against 21 girls in her category, and it proved to be a difficult challenge. Many competitors were from Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan where rhythmic gymnastics is a national sport, and gymnasts spend several years in intensive training. Aline, on the other hand, who had been training leisurely for just under 2 years, only started training intensively in September 2018. This competition was definitely a nail-biting experience for Aline.

Wehda, Aline’s mother, said: “The competition was nerve-racking to watch! Seeing Aline perform in front of a panel of international judges was quite surreal. Her performance went well until her nerves took over and she missed completing her routine by 2 seconds. This penalised her and set her score back, but Aline still finished in 12th position (out of 21).”

Next up was the international competition hosted by Universe Gymnastics in Pattaya (Thailand) on 24 February. At this event, 111 gymnasts from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Singapore and Thailand competed. This time, Aline competed in 2 categories - free hand and hoop. It was Aline’s first time competing in the hoop category. In fact, she only started training for her hoop routine less than a month before the competition.

She trained tirelessly in the weeks leading up to the competition because she was determined not to make the same mistakes as Dubai. The competition was just as intense but, thanks to Viktoria Karpenko (two-time Russian national gold medalist, founder and head coach at KGA), as well as her amazing coaches at KGA, Aline was able to stay calm. She put on a beautiful performance that eventually earned her two gold medals and first place in both categories!

Congratulations Aline. We are delighted that your determination and hard work paid off.