Aliya Yussupova

Aliya Yussupova
Aliya Yussupova
Personal information
Country represented	Kazakhstan
Born	15 May 1984 (age 40); Chimkent, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
Hometown	Shymkent, Kazakhstan
Residence	Moscow, Russia
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Head coach(es)	Irina Viner
Former coach(es)	Natalia Rogozhina
Choreographer	Veronika Shatkova
Retired	2009
Medal record
Representing Kazakhstan
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Asian Games
World Cup Final
World Games
Summer Universiade
Asian Championships

Aliya Yussupova (Kazakh: Әлия Мақсұтқызы Жүсіпова, Äliia Maqsūtqyzy Jüsıpova; born 15 May 1984) is a retired individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for Kazakhstan, coached by Irina Viner. In February 2021, she became the president of the Kazakhstan Gymnastics Federation.^[1]

Personal life

Aliya Yussupova is a Sunni Muslim of Kazakh ethnicity.^[2]^[3]

Career

Yussupova moved to Moscow and began training with renowned Russian coach Irina Viner.

She won two silver medals in ball and clubs at the 2004 World Cup Final in Moscow. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she qualified for the finals in 5th place. In the finals, she took fourth place with a total of 103.975 (Ribbon 25.550, Clubs 26.325, Ball 26.600, Hoop 25.500).

Yussupova won the Kazakhstani National Championships in the individual all-around competition in 2000–2005. At the 2006 Asian championships in Surat, India (from 29 July to 3 August), she swept the rhythmic gymnastics medals. She won six gold medals, including four individual apparatus titles, the team gold and the individual all-around title. At the 2007 World Championships, she finished 6th in the all-around.

She competed in her second Olympics at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she finished 5th in the all-around event finals. She was the all-around bronze medalist at the 2009 Universiade. At the 2009 Asian championships in Astana, she won all six gold medals again.

Yussupova retired from competition at the end of the 2009 season.

Coaching career

In 2013, she started to train fellow Kazakhstani rhythmic gymnast Sabina Ashirbayeva. Her other notable students include Alina Adilkhanova and Elzhana Taniyeva.

Achievements

First Asian and Kazakh rhythmic gymnast to medal at the World Cup final.
First Kazakh gymnast to place in top 10 Finals in the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008).

Detailed Olympic results

Year	Competition description	Location	Music	Apparatus	Score - final	Score - qualifying
2008	Olympics	Beijing		All-around	69.800	69.800
			Music from Da Vinci Code by Hans Zimmer	Hoop	17.625	17.900
			Scott & Fran's Paso Doble by David Hirschfelder & The Bogo Pogo Orchestra	Rope	17.825	17.575
			Spartacus by Aram Khatchaturian	Clubs	17.650	17.575
			Artsakh by Ara Gevorkian	Ribbon	16.700	16.750

Year	Competition description	Location	Music	Apparatus	Score - final	Score - qualifying
2004	Olympics	Athens		All-around	103.975	101.500
			Mystics Lullaby / Anatolian Deluxe / Marrakesh Night Market by Loreena McKennitt / Turkish Percussion Group	Ball	26.600	26.150
			Bolero (Closing Credits) music from Moulin Rouge by Steve Sharples	Hoop	25.500	25.800
			Ya Habibi Yallah by Alabina	Clubs	26.325	25.725
			Op-sa by Esil Dyuran	Ribbon	25.550	23.825