Aliya Mustafina

Aliya Mustafina was the most dominant gymnast in the

world back in 2010. The Russian gymnast made history
by qualifying for the all-around final and all four event
finals at the World Championships. She was the first
gymnast to do so since Shannon Miller and Svetlana
Khorkina in 1996. At the end of the competition, she had
collected 5 medals. The all-around title, team gold & 3
silver medals on vault, the uneven bars, and floor. She
established herself as the absolute gymnast to watch over
the following years and the gymnast to beat. She began
2011 by competing at the American Cup where she
placed second with a fall on floor. Aliya showed an
upgraded all-around program, including a three and a haft
twist on floor and a triple twist in combination on beam.
This is against her coach’s wishes, he wanted her to
perform easier yet cleaner routines, that would’ve secured
her the gold medal. At the 2011 Europeans in April, she
downgraded her program and qualified in first place for
the all-around final, with a margin of almost 3 points, and
all four event finals. Aliya was clearly the favorite to win
the all-around title, but she tore her left anterior cruciate
ligament on her first rotation in the final. Mustafina was
forced to withdraw from the competition and missed
almost the entire season. She had surgery a couple of days
later and by July, she was doing upper body conditioning
and rehabilitation on her leg. Just 6 months post-surgery,
Aliya was already hoping to compete at the World
Championships, but the coaches would not allow it. So,
she set her eyes on the Stuttgart World Cup in November.
However, she withdrew from the competition after her
knee began swelling in warmups. Mustafina successfully
made her return to competition at the Vornin Cup in
December, where she competed on all four events final
and placed first on the uneven bars. At the 2012
Europeans, errors in the qualification round prevented her
from advancing to any individual final. These were not
the results she was hoping for, but Aliya still had a couple
of months left to adjust her routines and work towards
peaking at the right time. When the London Olympic
Games wrapped up, Mustafina was the most decorated
gymnast, male or female, in the competition. She medaled
in every event in which she competed, going home with a
total of four medals: a team silver, the all-around bronze,
the floor bronze, and most notably, the Uneven Bars
Olympic title. Aliya ended Russian’s 12-year gold medal
drought in Olympic gymnastics. Disregarded by many
after a career-threatening injury, Mustafina proved how
determined she was to be on top of the podium once
again. Although she might never return to her 2010 form
and dominance, Aliya will always be remembered as a
fierce competitor, with one of the strongest mindsets we’ll
ever witness. The Russian gymnast stuck around for the
following Olympics, where she successfully defended her
Uneven Bars title, becoming the first female gymnast
since Svetlana Khorkina to win the same event at two
consecutive Olympics. With a total of three medals a
gold, a silver, and a bronze, Aliya was the most decorated
Russian athlete in Rio. After the Games, it was announced
she was pregnant with her first child. The double
Olympics Champion took a break from gymnastics but in
2017, she proved once again her tenacity by returning to
training just 3 months after giving birth. Her preparation
to compete at the highest level once more had its
setbacks. The Russian athlete was forced to withdraw
from two different competitions due to a meniscus injury.
But she persevered (per ser vier) and eventually made the
2018 World Team, where she went on to win her 12th
World Championships medal, after becoming a mother. In
2021 Aliya became the head coach of the junior national
team, extending her legacy in the sport of gymnastics.