Interesting facts about cities hosting the Sky Grace Tournament international sport competitions

St. Petersburg, Kazan, Barnaul, Sirius, Yekaterinburg and Ivanovo will host the Sky Grace Tournament international sport competitions. The events will be held under rules of the Sky Grace International Clubs Association for gymnasts born in 2012 and 2013 that performed under the sport Category 1 program (and gymnasts born in 2014 — in the Group Exercise — All-around discipline).

Interesting facts related to rhythmic gymnastics about competition venues:

St. Petersburg

1. St. Petersburg is the birthplace of rhythmic gymnastics. 
2. The first USSR Championship was held in the city in 1948. 
3. This is exactly where the Lesgaft National State University of Physical Culture, Sport and Health is situated, where Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva defended her Ph.D. thesis. 
4. The team of the Zhemchuzhina Center of Rhythmic Gymnastics from St. Petersburg won the tournament for partners of the Sky Grace International Clubs Association.
5. St. Petersburg is the home city of Mariia Borisova, the Academy gymnast and the Sky Grace Cup champion.

Kazan

1. Rhythmic gymnastics appeared in Tatarstan in 1948. 
2. Olympic champion Darya Shkurikhina was born in Kazan. 
3. Kazan hosted the Russian championship in 2005. 
4. The FIG World Challenge Cup was held in Kazan in 2018. 
5. Rhythmic gymnastics became part of the BRICS Games program for the first time at the tournament in Kazan in 2024.

Barnaul

1. Anastasia Salos, the Belarusian national team gymnast and the silver medalist of the Sky Grace 2022 tournament, was born in Barnaul. 
2. The school of Olympics 2004 silver medalist Irina Tchaschina opened exactly there in 2013. 
3. Gymnasts from Barnaul took part in the India routine at the Alina 2024 Festival in Sirius. 
4. Academy gymnasts participated in the international competition within the framework of the Dynamo for Russia’s Children festival in Barnaul in April 2024. 
5. Gymnasts of the Elans sports center from Barnaul took part in the all-Russian tournament for partners of the Sky Grace International Clubs Association.

Sirius

1. The Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy was opened in 2022 in Sirius. 
2. The second Sky Grace international tournament was held in Sirius. 
3. Girls practice rhythmic gymnastics and study in the Sirius lyceum on the federal territory. They participated in the all-Russian tournament for partners of the Sky Grace International Clubs Association at the turn of 2024. 
4. Gymnasts from different countries are coming to the training camp in Sirius. Among them are athletes from the Philippines, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Congo, Venezuela, China, Guatemala, Mexico, and other countries. 
5. Sirius hosted the Alina Festival twice, in 2023 and 2024. 

Yekaterinburg

1. The first section of rhythmic gymnastics appeared in the city in 1945. 
2. Lidia Nizamutdinova, the 15-time USSR champion and the first master of sports in rhythmic gymnastics, was born here. 
3. Olga Glatskikh and Elena Murzina, 2004 Olympic champions in group exercises, started their sports career in Yekaterinburg. 
4. The All-Russian tournament in memory of E. A. Oblygina, the first USSR Honored Coach, is being held regularly in Yekaterinburg since 1989. 
5. Anna Gavrilenko, the native of Yekaterinburg, won gold in group exercises at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

Ivanovo

1. Zinaida Matveeva — the founder of rhythmic gymnastics in the Ivanovo Region. A World War 2 veteran, she survived the siege of Leningrad and then became the RSFSR Honored Coach and the All-Russian Category judge. 
2. The rhythmic gymnastics federation of the city bears the name of founder Zinaida Matveeva. 
3. Ivanovo is the center of the textile industry of Russia. Many studios of the city specialize in tailoring leotards for the gymnasts. 
4. Group exercise gymnasts from Ivanovo won silver medals at the Sky Grace Grand Prix international competition. 
5. Vladislava Sharonova, the participant in the Sky Grace 2023 tournament, was born in Ivanovo.