All-Around & Event Finals Results

American rhythmic athletes earned 11 medals in elite competition at the 2023 Miss Valentine International Gymnastics Competition over the weekend in Tartu, Estonia. More than 30 club athletes also were in attendance and picked up 11 medals, five of them gold.



FIG elite competition

Senior National Team member Deanna Georgieva (Centennial, Colo./Zara Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy) clinched the ribbon title with a 27.183 and took in second on hoop with a 26.933. Teammate Sarah Mariotti (San Diego, Calif./Pacific Stars Rhythmic Academy) earned three medals, with all-around bronze in her age group (2006 and older), silver in ball with a 31.283 and bronze in clubs with a 28.450. Elizabeth Balikian (Encino, Calif./California Rhythms) claimed silver in ribbon in the same age group with a 26.600. Yana Golovan (Las Vegas, Nev./Nevada Rhythmic Academy) was second in ball with a 30.050. Lauren Kramer (San Diego, Calif./Pacific Stars Rhythmic Academy) finished fifth (23.550) and eighth (24.000) in ribbons and clubs qualifications, respectively.

In the Junior Team competition, National Team member Megan Chu (San Diego, Calif./Pacific Stars Rhythmic Academy) placed third in ball with a 28.200 and was fifth in hoop with a 27.400 in. Olivia Fisher (Denver, Colo./Zara Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy) landed just off the podium with a fourth in ribbon (25.100) and was seventh in clubs with a 24.800. Chu and Fisher placed fifth as a team (214.050).



In group competition, the USA Senior Group comprised of Maria Bolkhovitinova (Northfield, Ill.), Izzy Connor (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), Daria Merkulova (Vernon Hills, Ill.), Katrine Sakhnov (Glencoe, Ill.) and Hana Starkman (Deerfield, Ill.), all of North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics, earned a third-place finish with a 47.000 and put on a silver medal performance in the five-hoop final with a 29.050. The Senior Group featuring Sasha Ilyina (Lake Zurich, Ill.), Isabella Ivanova (Kirkland, Wash.), Nicole Khoma (Northbrook, Ill.), Gergana Petkova (Barrington, Ill.), Karolina Saverino (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) and Emily Wilson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), also of North Shore, placed fourth in the with a 42.450 and won silver in the three-ribbon, two-ball final with a 19.700.

Club athletes were also in action in Tartu where 33 gymnasts representing seven clubs picked up 11 medals during competition throughout the weekend. Pacific Stars Rhythmic Academy junior Natalia Ye-granda (San Diego, Calif.) won hoop (26.700) and ribbon (25.250) titles while teammate Isabel Borges (San Diego, Calif.) secured gold in clubs with a 26.700. Anna Filipp (Florham Park N.J./Liberty Academy of Rhythmic Gymnastics) landed atop the podium in ribbon in the pre junior division with a 24.400.

The junior group from Liberty Academy of Rhythmic Gymnastics including Amina Akhmatova (Mahwah, N.J.), Sarah Novofastovsky (Livingston, N.J.), Anastasia Slipets (Wyckoff, N.J.), Anya Tarasyuk (Livingston, N.J.) and Ivanka Tarasyuk (Livingston, N.J.) posted a 22.450 to win in five balls over Norway (18.900) and host-country Estonia (16.100).