Young gymnasts from China came to the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy for the training camp.Coach Liu Zixin told us after the first training sessions, what is the goal of athletes coming to the Academy.<blockquote>"I brought five Chinese athletes here. We came from China, from the Liaoning Province. This is our second time coming to Sochi and we really like it here. Here we are meeting with coaches and athletes, communicating a lot, and also learning new techniques."</blockquote>The professional also explained, how the interaction with Academy students and specialists helps Chinese gymnasts.<blockquote>"I really like the Academy. The first time we came here was back in April of last year to participate in the Alina festival, which took place here. We really enjoyed our stay at the Academy. And last year we participated in the Sky Grace competition in Beijing, and I decided to bring my gymnasts to the Academy. They are very young and have not been training for long, so we came here to learn more from the Russian gymnasts. Russian gymnastics is very impressive."</blockquote>Gymnasts from China took part in the Alina 2023 festival and in the Sky Grace 2023 international tournament earlier.

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Academy Life

Young gymnasts from China came to the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy for the training camp.

Young gymnasts from China arrived for a training camp at the Academy

Sofia Vorobyova from Moscow, Eva Kononova from the Tyumen Region and Alesya Naifonova from North Ossetia — Alania dream of becoming students of the Academy. Alina Kabaeva assessed their abilities at the second stage of the Cup of the Strongest and the girls were given the opportunity to stay and train.&nbsp;Sofia Vorobyova told how training sessions are held at the Academy:<blockquote>"I like it very much at the Academy, there is a very kind, good atmosphere here, all the girls help each other. Everything is very well arranged for training here, that is, everything is done for convenience. I made friends with many girls. Well, in general, I get along well with everyone. There are two training sessions here, and usually we had one training session. For every athlete, this will be, of course, an added bonus, that there are so many training sessions. Of course, yes, it can be difficult, but still, the result will be very good."</blockquote>Sofia also noted that she was inspired by the meeting with Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva:<blockquote>"I imagined her as very kind, but when I saw her in real life, she turned out to be even kinder, even sweeter. She is very beautiful. I was inspired."</blockquote>Eva Kononova recalled how her parents reacted to her departure to the Academy:<blockquote>"Of course, it was sad, but my parents want me to advance in sports. They were also very happy."</blockquote>Eva also shared her impressions of the meeting with the Olympic champion:<blockquote>"I imagined Alina Maratovna as kind and good. When I came here, she was just incredibly kind. She told me comments, praised me. She would tell me to show some elements, I would show them. She would say, ‘Well done!’ Or she would give me comments, give a lot of advice. I listen to them, try to correct. Alina Maratovna told me to do a lot of drawings in the ribbon before taking risks, so that the ribbon doesn't fall flat."</blockquote>And Alesya Naifonova recalled her first visit to the Academy and named her main dream:&nbsp;<blockquote>"My friends from Vladikavkaz showed me a telegram channel, I subscribed, started watching, I found it very interesting. In 2023, I was here at the Alina festival. I liked it very much. I would like to become an Olympic champion like Alina Maratovna."</blockquote>

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Opinion

The gymnasts had the opportunity to practice at the Academy after the second stage of the Cup of the Strongest.

"I would like to become an Olympic champion like Alina Kabaeva!" Sofia Vorobyova, Eva Kononova and Alesya Naifonova speak about the meeting with Alina Kabaeva and workouts at the Academy

Marina Nikolaeva, the coach of the Russian national team, came to the Academy for the recovery camp.The specialist explained how such recovery camps are useful for gymnasts:<blockquote>"The recovery camp is the camp in the middle of the year, when we don’t have any difficult, major competitions ahead of us in the near future. The gymnasts can afford one or two weeks to recover, not to train their competition programs, to miss them a little. But at the same time, to acquire something else, for example, to do more dance training, as you see here, choreographic training, special physical training. My job is to train the gymnasts on apparatus work. To improve and teach them apparatus elements, skills, and some new interesting things. And during our morning jog, to do exercises seaside. It's very nice. It’s our interesting experience for the gymnasts."</blockquote>She also noted why the Academy is an ideal place to train gymnasts:<blockquote>"The Academy is very suitable for this camp and for all other camps. It's a great place where gymnasts can train and improve wonderfully."</blockquote>

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Marina Nikolaeva, the coach of the Russian national team, conducts apparatus training with the gymnasts.

“It's a great place where gymnasts can train and improve wonderfully." Marina Nikolaeva talks about the recovery camp at the Academy

Olga Vlasova&nbsp;from Nizhny Tagil is a candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor, and coach and instructor of the top qualification category in rhythmic gymnastics at the Municipal Budgetary Educational Institution of Additional Education Athletic School 2.&nbsp;She was a judge of the Sky Grace Cup interregional qualification competition for the Ural Federal District and the all-Russian Sky Grace Cup tournament.&nbsp;The specialist noted the influence of the Sky Grace International Clubs Association on the development of rhythmic gymnastics:&nbsp; &nbsp;<blockquote>"Features in rules of the Sky Grace International Clubs Association encourage gymnasts to perform difficult technical elements, thereby contributing to the development of athletes and rhythmic gymnastics in general. For me, judging at competitions is always a big responsibility. I made the decision to become a judge of the Sky Grace International Clubs Association because I always wanted to work and improve my judging skills in a team of professionals."</blockquote>

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Our judges

The professional from Nizhny Tagil is the next character in the Our Judges section.

Our Judges. Olga Vlasova

Head coach of the Russian national team Tatyana Sergaeva came to the Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy.The specialist will work with gymnasts at the recovery camp that is being held from June 20 to July 4.

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The professional will work with gymnasts at the recovery camp.

Head coach of the Russian national team Tatyana Sergaeva arrived at the Academy

The Russian men's and women's teams successfully performed at the international Russian Judo Tour tournament in Chelyabinsk.Dmitry Kotelnikov&nbsp;won the men's 60 kg category.&nbsp;Shamsutdin&nbsp;Umaev&nbsp;won the silver medal,&nbsp;Vyacheslav&nbsp;Urazgildeev&nbsp;and&nbsp;Nikita Anisimov&nbsp;took bronze.In the weight category of up to 66 kg the winner is&nbsp;Yago Abuladze,&nbsp;and the second and third places were taken by&nbsp;Rufat Aleskerov, Levon Tumasyants&nbsp;and&nbsp;Islam Sultygov.The champion of the category up to 73 kg is&nbsp;Magomed Mashtayev,&nbsp;the silver medalist is&nbsp;Abubakar Yusupov.Kurban Kudiev&nbsp;is the winner in the category of up to 81 kg, while &nbsp;silver and bronze medalists are&nbsp;Akroman Parchiev&nbsp;and&nbsp;Sergey Alyamkin.The winner in the weight category up to 90 kg is&nbsp;Adam Utsiev,&nbsp;the second place is taken by Artem Ustemirov,&nbsp;the third place went to&nbsp;Shamil Gadzhiev&nbsp;and&nbsp;Alan Khubetsov.In the up to 100 kg, the winner was&nbsp;Denis Korotaev,&nbsp;silver and bronze medals were won by&nbsp;Aslan Bagov&nbsp;and&nbsp;Igor Dolganov.&nbsp;In the category over 100 kg, gold went to&nbsp;Serikbai Zhanabekov.&nbsp;Second and third places were taken by&nbsp;Valery Endovitsky, Dmitry Evseev&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bislan Katamardov.Among women,&nbsp;Alina Sergeeva&nbsp;won in the 48 kg category.&nbsp;Anastasia Yakunina&nbsp;and&nbsp;Anastasia Petrova&nbsp;took second and third places.In the 52 kg category,&nbsp;Aelina Mazitova&nbsp;won the silver medal, and&nbsp;Daria Zakharova&nbsp;took third place.In the 57 kg category,&nbsp;Olga Mukhina&nbsp;became the champion. Silver and bronze went to&nbsp;Daria Kuzmina, Lyubov&nbsp;Timofeycheva&nbsp;and&nbsp;Valentina Shtentsova.In the 63 kg category,&nbsp;Kamila Badurova&nbsp;won the gold medal,&nbsp;Milena&nbsp;Khilova&nbsp;won the silver medal, and&nbsp;Alexandra Balabanova&nbsp;and&nbsp;Stefania Vlasova&nbsp;won the bronze medal.The best in the category up to 70 kg are&nbsp;Daria Khramoykina, Eva Ognivova&nbsp;and&nbsp;Taisiya Kireeva.In the category up to 78 kg, the gold medal went to&nbsp;Alena Prokopenko.&nbsp;Together with her on the podium were&nbsp;Antonina Shmeleva, Anastasia Pavlova&nbsp;and&nbsp;Alexandra Babintseva.Veronika Kafanova&nbsp;became the winner in the category over 78 kg, the second place went to&nbsp;Marina Bukreeva,&nbsp;the third to&nbsp;Kira Safonova&nbsp;and&nbsp;Angela Gasparyan.Full competition results are available on the official Russian Judo Federation <a href="https://online.judo.ru/event/14571">website</a>.

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MA Academy

The competition was held in Chelyabinsk, June 28 to 29.

The Russian Judo Team successfully performs at the Russian Judo Tour

The training camps will be held at the Academy from August 3 to 10. Athletes born in 2016 and older are invited to participate.The camp program includes: choreography, special physical training, apparatus training, general physical training, dance training, practicing and adjusting programs, psychological training and discussions, rhythmic classes, an original master class by the European Championship silver and bronze medalist Elizaveta Zorkina, as well as swimming pool time.&nbsp;The training camp coaching staff include IIrina Gusarova, Evgeniya Eliseeva, Anna Ustsova, Alina Gusarova, Elizaveta Chernova, Olga Minigalina, Ekaterina Lots, Elizaveta Zorkina, Alina Protasova, Zlata Tulubaeva, Olga Frolova, Olesya Kovaleva, choreographers Elena Egorova and Ekaterina Belova, as well as psychologist Irina Kozyr.Also during the camp, a selection process will be held for the Academy group team gymnasts born in 2010-2012.&nbsp;In order to participate, you must first send a video to the following email address:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:gymnast@skygrace.ru">gymnast@skygrace.ru</a>.&nbsp;Applications are accepted until July 25 via email: sbory@skygrace.ru.&nbsp;You can read the training camp regulations below<a href="https://skygrace.ru/static/files/shared/577/4b1/polozhenie-o-provedenii-sborov-avgust-2025.pdf">Training camp regulations (August 2025)</a>

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The Alina Kabaeva Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy  will hold a training camp on August 3 through 10. Athletes born in 2016 and older are invited to participate.

The Academy to hold training camp from August 3 to 10

At the Academy's recovery camp, there was floor training with Russian national team choreographer Kirill Barkan. The professional explained what the gymnasts were working on:&nbsp;<blockquote>"Now we are recovering using floor training, where we include the necessary muscles that are already involved in the body elements, in order to move forward more intensively. The abs in girls are the most underestimated muscle in the body group and one of the most basic, which is responsible for stability and balance of absolutely all elements."</blockquote>Russian national team choreographer Kirill Barkan also shared the main goal for this training camp:&nbsp;<blockquote>"The Academy has gathered some of the best specialists represented by choreographers and coaches. Irina Zenovka comes and puts on absolutely wonderful programs. I want to help, with common work and common efforts to make it so that on the floor all those things that have been worked on for years with the Sky Grace coaches, with the help of the professionals from the Russian national team, only become better."</blockquote>The recovery camp at the Academy will continue until July 4.

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Russian national team choreographer Kirill Barkan told us what the gymnasts were working on.

At the Academy's recovery camp, there was floor training with Russian national team choreographer Kirill Barkan

The classes as part of the dance intensive course by the Alla Dukhova school-studio TODES have started at the Academy of Martial Arts.Teacher Denis Ishmetov noted the features of the program.<blockquote>"This is the best dance intensive workshop in our country. Children come from different cities, with different dance development. We divide them by age and level. In such a short period of time, it seems, only 12-13 days, they gain colossal experience and come home with a lot of dance experience," Denis said.</blockquote>He also shared his impressions of the Martial Arts Academy.<blockquote>"The conditions here are very luxurious. They feed us very well, breakfast, lunch and dinner. So hard to choose, so much healthy food. Unbelievably beautiful conditions, beautiful rooms," he said.</blockquote>

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Teacher Denis Ishmetov talked about the class program.

The dance intensive course of the Alla Dukhova school-studio TODES began at the Martial Arts Academy

Senior coach of the Russian national team Marina Govorova&nbsp;conducts&nbsp;apparatus&nbsp;training for the gymnast during the recovery training camp at the Academy.&nbsp;The&nbsp;professional&nbsp;explained&nbsp;for&nbsp;what&nbsp;such training camp is needed:<blockquote>"Let's start with the fact that we had a big competition season. The&nbsp;lineup of the Russian national team was determined after the Russian championship and junior championship. And in May-June, a number of major competitions were held: two stages of the all-Russian international Cup of the Strongest tournaments, in which all these gymnasts took part. And so, everything is going according to plan, that after a big block of competitions we have a recovery camp, which we hold in a wonderful place, in the best conditions."&nbsp;</blockquote>She&nbsp;also&nbsp;noted&nbsp;where&nbsp;the&nbsp;emphasis&nbsp;is&nbsp;placed&nbsp;in the program:&nbsp;<blockquote>"There is an opportunity now, during this period, to pay great attention to general physical, special physical training, to work on apparatus training, to take a break from our competitive programs. We always have something to work on. Excellent dance and flexibility classes are held here.&nbsp;Almost all the gymnasts came with their coaches, we have a lot of great coaches;Honored Coach Vera Shtelbaums. We also have Dmitry Stepanchikov, he is also our dance choreographer. He is here, he teaches great classes. The girls are relaxed, they dance, they will use this in their programs. This&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;very&nbsp;necessary&nbsp;thing."</blockquote>

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The specialist conducts the apparatus training for the gymnasts.

What the recovery training camp is needed for? Senior coach of the Russian national team Marina Govorova talks about that

Gymnast from St. Petersburg Angelina Ipatova summed up the results of her performance at the Russia’s Youth VI Summer Spartakiad-2025.<blockquote>“I managed seven exits out of eight possible. I didn't manage to show the routine with the ball in the final. But the most important thing is that I was able to pull myself together for the other three events and do them even better than in the all-around. So, overall, I'm happy,” she said.</blockquote>The athlete also noted after which competition she began to make progress.<blockquote>“Probably, it was the Grand Prix, when the International Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Clubs Association gave me the opportunity to perform. And from there my recovery and progress began,” the gymnast said.</blockquote>The gymnast spoke about her responsibility to the team.<blockquote>“For me, it’s joy. It's still exciting to perform. It's a big responsibility to perform for your city, to represent the St. Petersburg team. All the girls tried their best. I'm glad that it was my contribution that helped the team win the all-around,” Angelina said.</blockquote>Angelina also shared her plans for the summer.<blockquote>“There will be a break from training, but we will devote this time to admission, since I took exams and now I will have time to choose the university I want to go to and submit an application, documents,” Angelina said.</blockquote>In case of equal number of points in the team championship, the winner was determined by the second best result among the individuals from St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, so Angelina helped the team win gold medals.Earlier, at the Alina Kabaeva Grand Prix Champions Cup, the gymnast performed as part of the International Sky Grace Rhythmic Gymnastics Clubs Association.

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Gymnast from St. Petersburg Angelina Ipatova sums up the results of her performance at Russia’s Youth VI Summer Spartakiad-2025, spoke about her responsibility to the team, and also shared her plans for the summer.