The Most Famous

GYMNASTS from Uzbekistan

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This page contains a list of the greatest Uzbekistani Gymnasts. The pantheon dataset contains 370 Gymnasts, 2 of which were born in Uzbekistan. This makes Uzbekistan the birth place of the 23rd most number of Gymnasts behind Brazil, and Slovenia.

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Uzbekistani Gymnasts of all time. This list of famous Uzbekistani Gymnasts is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Alina Kabaeva

1. Alina Kabaeva (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 51.58, Alina Kabaeva is the most famous Uzbekistani Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 45 different languages on wikipedia.

Alina Maratovna Kabaeva or Kabayeva (Russian: Алина Маратовна Кабаева, pronounced [ɐˈlʲinə mɐˈratəvnə kɐˈbajɪvə]; Tatar: Әлинә Марат кызы Кабаева; born 12 May 1983) is a Russian politician, media manager and retired individual rhythmic gymnast, who has been designated Honoured Master of Sports by the Russian government. Kabaeva is one of the most decorated gymnasts in rhythmic gymnastic history, with 2 Olympic medals, 14 World Championship medals, and 21 European Championship medals. She is reportedly the longtime partner of Russian president Vladimir Putin. From 2007 to 2014, Kabaeva was a State Duma deputy from United Russia. In September 2014, Kabaeva became the chairwoman of the board of directors of the National Media Group.

Photo of Oksana Chusovitina

2. Oksana Chusovitina (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 48.18, Oksana Chusovitina is the 2nd most famous Uzbekistani Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Oksana Aleksandrovna Chusovitina (Russian: Оксана Александровна Чусовитина; born 19 June 1975) is an Uzbekistani artistic gymnast. Chusovitina's career as an elite gymnast has spanned more than three decades. She won the USSR Junior Nationals in 1988 and began competing at the international level in 1989 before many of her current rivals were even born. She is the only gymnast ever to compete in eight Olympic Games, and is one of only two female gymnasts to compete at the Olympics under three different national teams: the Unified Team in 1992; Uzbekistan in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2016 and 2020; and Germany in 2008 and 2012. She is one of the 18 Olympians and 6 female Olympians to participate in 8 different Olympics. Chusovitina's longevity and consistency as an elite gymnast is exceptionally unusual; the skillset and wear and tear typical of the sport mean elite female gymnasts have often retired in their early twenties and a gymnast in her late twenties would be considered a seasoned veteran. Chusovitina has also competed in 16 World Championships, four Asian Games, and three Goodwill Games. Chusovitina holds the record for the most individual world championship medals in a single event (nine, on the vault). Chusovitina is one of the few female gymnasts to return to international competitions after becoming a mother.

Photo of Elvira Saadi

3. Elvira Saadi (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 42.78, Elvira Saadi is the 3rd most famous Uzbekistani Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Elvira Fuadovna Saadi (born January 2, 1952) is a retired gymnast from the former Soviet Union and a former elite gymnastics coach in Canada. As a member of the Soviet Union's women's gymnastics team, Saadi shared in the team gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. She placed 8th in the all-around at the 1972 Olympics and 7th all-around at the 1976 Olympics. Saadi won the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise at the 1973 USSR national championships. That year, she tied for first on vault at the 1973 World University Games, where she also placed 3rd in the all-around. At the 1974 World Championships, she earned a share of the USSR team gold, placed fourth in the all-around and captured the bronze medal on floor exercise. Following the 1976 Olympics, Saadi accepted a coaching position at the Moscow Dynamo Club, where she was the coach of Soviet gymnast Tatiana Groshkova, who placed third all-around in the 1989 U.S.S.R. gymnastics championships and placed first all-around at the 1990 Trophee Massilia. Saadi was born in Tashkent, U.S.S.R. She relocated to Canada in 1991 to become a coach at the Canadian gym Cambridge Kips, where she trained Canadian Olympians Yvonne Tousek and Crystal Gilmore. In June 2011, Saadi announced plans to open her own club, Dynamo Gymnastics. The new club begun operations on the premises of Revolution Gymnastics in Waterloo, where several top young gymnasts who left Cambridge Kips with Saadi trained. Dynamo Gymnastics opened in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada in 2011. Saadi opened the new club together with the parents of one of the up-and-coming gymnasts, Victoria Moors, who left Cambridge Kips with Saadi. Along with Victoria Moors was Madeline Gardiner. Both Gardiner and Moors went on to qualify for the Canadian London 2012 Olympic team. Moors competed as part of Team Canada and helped to earn Canada 5th place overall in the team final, the best ranking of any Canadian Women's Artistic Gymnastics team to date at the Olympics. Gardiner was an alternate on the team but did not compete. Moors was also the youngest Canadian Olympian competing at the age of 15. Victoria went on to briefly hold the record for a Canadian Women's Artistic Gymnast at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2013, placing 10th for Canada. The previous best ranking for a Canadian was 14th. (That 10th-place ranking has since been beaten at the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships by Halifax's Ellie Black (Moors' teammate at the London Olympics). Victoria also has two eponymous skills, one a dismount from the uneven bars and the other a laid-out double-twisting double somersault on floor which is the hardest ranking floor skill to date. Victoria retired at the age of 18 in the spring of 2015. Victoria's sister Brooklyn Moors, also coached by Saadi, is a member of the Canadian national team and represented Canada at the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. On November 20, 2023, Saadi was permanently banned by Gymnastics Canada from working with gymnasts due to physical and verbal abuse.

Photo of Alexander Shatilov

4. Alexander Shatilov (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 27.34, Alexander Shatilov is the 4th most famous Uzbekistani Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Alexander "Alex" Shatilov (Hebrew: אלכסנדר "אלכס" שטילוב, Russian: Александр Шатилов; born March 22, 1987) is a USSR-born Israeli artistic gymnast. He specializes in the floor exercise, in which he won several medals at World and European Championships, reached the finals at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, and competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2013, Shatilov won a gold medal at the European Championship in gymnastics in Moscow, Russia. He represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Rozalia Galiyeva

5. Rozalia Galiyeva (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 25.91, Rozalia Galiyeva is the 5th most famous Uzbekistani Gymnast.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Rozaliya Ilfatovna Galiyeva (Розалия Ильфатовна Галиева; born 28 April 1977), also known as Roza Galieva, is a retired artistic gymnast who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Anton Fokin

6. Anton Fokin (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 24.16, Anton Fokin is the 6th most famous Uzbekistani Gymnast.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Anton Viktorovich Fokin (born November 13, 1982) is an Uzbek artistic gymnast who represented Uzbekistan at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze medal on the parallel bars. He also won the bronze medal on the parallel bars at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

People

Pantheon has 6 people classified as Uzbekistani gymnasts born between 1952 and 1987. Of these 6, 6 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Uzbekistani gymnasts include Alina Kabaeva, Oksana Chusovitina, and Elvira Saadi. As of April 2024, 4 new Uzbekistani gymnasts have been added to Pantheon including Elvira Saadi, Alexander Shatilov, and Rozalia Galiyeva.

Living Uzbekistani Gymnasts

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Newly Added Uzbekistani Gymnasts (2024)

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