Angelina Melnikova

At 23 years old, Angelina Melnikova has this physical status:

Angelina Romanovna Melnikova (born 18 July 2000) is a Russian artistic gymnast.

She represented Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the team competition, winning a silver medal.

She was also a member of the gold-medal-winning Russian teams in the 2016 and 2018 European Championships, as well as the silver-medal-winning Russian teams at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships. She is the 2019 European Games all-around and uneven bars champion, the 2017 World all-around and floor exercise bronze medalist, a four-time European Games medalist, and a two-time Russian national all-around champion (2016, 2018).

Melnikova also earned gold medals in the 2014 European Championships in the team, all-around, and balance beam events, as well as being the 2014 Russian junior all-around national champion.

Valentina Rodionenko, the head coach of Russia, referred to Melnikova as "the team's captain" in 2018.

Personal life

Angelina Romanovna Melnikova was born in Voronezh, Russia, on July 20, 2000. She began gymnastics at the age of six after her grandmother took her to a dance for the first time. At the Smolensk State Academy of Physical Education, she studied sport and tourism.

Melnikova has been given two major awards. Following the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she received the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" as well as the Russian Federation's Honoured Master of Sport. She was awarded the Longines Prize for Elegance at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Melnikova started designing and selling leotards in 2018.

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Junior career

Melnikova was named to Russia's junior national team in 2014 and made her international debut at the International Gymnix Championship in Montreal. Anastasia Ilyankova, Daria Skrypnik, and Ekaterina Sokova were among the team's gold medalists in the Junior International Cup, behind Canadian Rose-Kay Woo. She also placed second on uneven bars and third on floor exercise, respectively. Melnikova, from Hungary, and her home team, the Central Federal District, competed at the Russian National Championships in April. With a total score of 267.966, her team came in first. Melnikova's personal record was a good showing and placed first in the Junior Master of the Sport division with a score of 58.300. She has also received two other gold medals in balance beam and floor exercises, with scores of 14.700 and 14.167 respectively. She placed seventh in the uneven bars final and earned eighth place. The findings of these championships were used to determine the gymnasts who would compete in Sofia's European Championships the following month. Melnikova was selected for the team due to her outstanding results.

Melnikova, Maria Bondareva, Daria Skrypnik, Seda Tutkhalyan, Anastasia Dmitrieva, and Anastasia Dmitrieva participated in the junior division at the European Championships. They came in first as a team with a total score of 168.268. Melnikova then went on to win a gold medal in the all-around and balance beam, as well as a silver medal for uneven bars behind teammate Skrypnik.

In Penza, Melnikova competed at the Junior Russian National Championships in early April. She earned first place with her team and then went on to win the silver medal in the all-around competition, first on balance beam, and second on floor exercise.

She appeared at the Russian Cup in September, but she was unable to participate due to her junior status, but she was able to perform as a visitor. Her overall score of 57.234 was the highest of the competition, beating official champion Daria Spiridonova's record of 56.733.

In November, Melnikova competed at the Elite Gym Massilia meet in Marseille, France. She, alongside teammates Daria Skrypnik, Evgeniya Shelgunova, and Natalia Kapitonova, earned the silver medal in the team competition. She was a natural performer in the all-around title ahead of France's Marine Brevet and Romania's Diana Bulimar. She qualified to the floor exercise and uneven bars finals, but counted falls in both events, placing her in sixth and fifth positions respectively.

Senior career

Melnikova became eligible for senior action in 2016 and made her senior international debut at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge Cup, where the Russian team claimed the gold medal. Melnikova's second highest all-around score behind 2012 Olympian and Switzerland's reigning European champion Giulia Steingruber. Melnikova claimed her first senior national all-around title in April in addition to placing first on balance beam and floor exercises and fifth on uneven bars.

Melnikova competed in the European Championships in early June. She appeared on all four events leading to Russia's first place finish in the team final. She qualified for the balance beam and uneven bars finals as a result of her individuality. She finished fifth on balance beam and barred from the uneven bars final, ensuring compatriot Daria Spiridonova would qualify.

Aliya Mustafina, Maria Paseka, Daria Spiridonova, Seda Tutkhayan, and Seda Tutkhayan were selected to represent Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Melnikova was expected to qualify several Olympic event finals and be in contention for an all-around medal following her stellar junior career and early season appearances. However, Melnikova did not do well in the qualification round, partially due to a tightened hamstring suffered during podium preparation. She fell off the balance beam and into floor exercises again, unable to qualify for the individual all-around final or any of the event finals. She grew on her results in the team's final; she competed on all four apparatuses but still missed a fall on the balance beam. She was instrumental in Russia's team's silver medal campaign.

Melnikova competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial in Chiasso, Switzerland, in November. She won the three-event all-around before meeting Eythora Thorsdottir and Jessica López. Melnikova returned to the Swiss Cup, a mixed pairs tournament in which she was partnered with Nikita Ignatyev. They came in third, behind Ukrainian pair Angelina Kysla and Oleg Verniaiev, and German pair Kim Bui and Marcel Nguyen.

Melnikova retired from competing at the Toyota International Exhibition in Toyota, Japan, after a year of competing at the Toyota International Festival in Toyota, Japan. She came in fourth on the vault, first on uneven bars, and second on balance beam and floor exercises, behind Mai Murakami on both apparatuses.

Melnikova was appointed as team captain of the Russian women's national team in 2017, after rival Aliya Mustafina. Melnikova started her Russian National Championships debut in Kazan. Although she was supposed to do well in the absence of Olympic champion Aliya Mustafina, as well as being the reigning national champion, she faltered throughout the tournament, except for the vault. As a result, she came in ninth place in the all-around. Despite her poor showing at nationals, Melnikova was second second in the Stuttgart World Cup in March, finishing second behind Germany's Tabea Alt and ahead of USA's Morgan Hurd. She earned three bronze medals in the team event, vault, and floor exercise in the following month. Melnikova later competed at the London World Cup. She did poorly, falling on balance beam and floor exercise, and made some serious mistakes on uneven bars and vault. Maria Paseka, an Olympic teammate, and Elena Eremina, Natalia Kapitonova, and Olympic teammate Maria Paseka were all confirmed that she would participate in the European Championships later this month. Melnikova fell off the balance beam and uneven bars in the qualifying round, but she did not qualify for the individual all-around final. However, she qualified for the finals in both vault and floor exercises. During the vault final, her form was not as good as those gymnasts, resulting in her placing eighth in eighth place. She maintained a clean routine during the gold medal competition, which culminated in her winning the gold medal ahead of British gymnast Ellie Downie and Eythora Thorsdottir from the Netherlands.

Melnikova won the all-around at the Russian Cup in Ekaterinburg in August, beating Eremina and Maria Kharenkova. She also placed first on the balance beam and third on the vault and in the team competition.

Melnikova was chosen to represent Russia at the World Championships after the Russian Cup, alongside Paseka, Eremina, and Anastasia Ilyankova. Angelina's qualifications were all-around, smashing her beam routine (12.600), but counting two slips and a non-bounds penalty on floor exercise due to a foot injury. Despite a low score of 11.166 on floor exercise, she was able to qualify for the all-around final with a score of 53.132. Her uneven bars score, 14.966, was the fourth highest in the competition, but she was not able to progress to the final due to the two-per-country rule; both Eremina and Ilyankova scored higher, with 15.100 and 15.066 respectively. Melnikova finished 16th in the all-around final.

Melnikova finished first in the all-around in December, ahead of Viktoria Komova.

Melnikova had been invited to participate in the Stuttgart, Birmingham, and Tokyo World Cups, but she was later forced to miss the Tokyo World Cup in favor of teammate and first-year senior Angelina Simakova. Melnikova began her season at the Stuttgart World Cup, where she came fifth after botching her pirouetting elements on uneven bars, falling off the balance beam, and finally turning her piked full in on floor exercise. However, a week later at the Birmingham World Cup, she was able to improve on her results, including avoiding a fall on beam, and ensuring safer landings on floors. Her appearance was strong enough to win the tournament, finishing ahead of USA's Margzetta Frazier.

Melnikova finished in April at the 2018 City of Jesolo Trophy, where she gained a gold medal with the Russian team, ahead of Italy and Brazil. She earned a silver medal on vault and bronze in uneven bars; in uneven bars, she claimed bronze behind teammate Anastasia Ilyankova and USA's Ragan Smith. She captured another bronze medal on balance beam, this time behind Emma Malabuyo and Smith of the United States, who were born in Japan. She also placed fourth in the all-around, behind Malabuyo, Smith, and Ilyankova, and fifth on floor exercises.

Melnikova was competing in the Russian National Championships a week later. She earned a silver medal with the Central Federal District team on the first day of competition and advanced to the all-around and all four event finals. Melnikova won the gold medal in the all around competition, ahead of Angelina Simakova and Viktoria Komova, who had scored 14.466 on vault, 14.433 on beam, 13.300 on beam, and 13.566 on floor exercise. She earned a silver on vault with a 14.049 average, behind Viktoria Trykina and Tatiana Nabieva; gold on uneven bars with a 13.466, ahead of guest Simakova and Alexeeva; and gold on floor exercise with a 14.500, ahead of Simakova and Alexeeva.

Melnikova also competed at the Russian Cup in late June. She was originally only going to compete uneven bars and balance beam due to nagging injuries, but she later decided to go all-around, finishing first despite a fall on balance beam in qualifying and a watered down floor routine. She also placed first in the team competition and in the uneven bars final, finishing second. Melnikova did not qualify in the remaining event finals due to her knee injury.

Melnikova competed at the European Championships in Glasgow in August. Simakova, Alexeeva, Lilia Akhaimova, and Yuliana Perebinosova have all earned a gold medal in the team competition. Though Russia qualified to the final behind France following a weak qualifying result, the team won the title by a score of 12 routines in the final. She finished second on vault behind Boglárka Dévai of Hungary, third on uneven bars behind defending champion Nina Derwael of Belgium and Jonna Adlerteg of Sweden, and sixth on floor exercises.

Melnikova was selected on the nominative list for the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, alongside Akhaimova, Alexeeva, Mustafina, and Simakova on September 29. The Worlds team had been officially announced on October 17th and was unchanged from the nominative staff. Melnikova qualified to the all-around final in fifth place and to the floor exercise final in third place during qualifying. In addition, Russia qualified to the team final in second place. Melnikova competed on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, assisting Russia in winning the silver medal. Melnikova finished fifth in the all-around final, just a tenth of a point behind bronze medalist Morgan Hurd of Japan, and 0.001 points behind fourth-place finisher Nina Derwael of Belgium. She was later named the Longines Prize for Elegance alongside compatriot Artur Dalaloyan. She came in fourth in the final of floor exercise, 0.033 points behind bronze medalist Murakami.

Melnikova competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial in Chiasso, Switzerland, in mid-November. She came in fourth place in the three-event all-around competition, behind Brazil's Jade Barbosa and Flávia Saraiva, as well as Netherlands Eythora Thorsdottir. Nikita Nagornyy, a countryman, then competed in the Swiss Cup, a unique mixed pair competition. They gained the silver medal behind German pair Elisabeth Seitz and Marcel Nguyen after qualifying for the final in first place.

Melnikova finished second in the all-around competition at the Russian National Championships in March, finishing second second in the all-around behind Angelina Simakova. She gained gold on the floor, silver on vault and balance beam, and bronze on uneven bars. Simakova, Maria Paseka, and Anastasia Ilyankova were all selected to compete in the 2019 European Championships as a result. Melnikova later that month competed at the EnBW DTB-Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart. She took silver in the team final behind Brazil and in the individual all-around category, behind Brazilian Rebeca Andrade.

Melnikova qualified to the all-around final in first place, uneven bars and floor exercise finals in second place, and the vault final in sixth place. Mélanie de Jesus Santos of France and Ellie Downie of Great Britain both qualified for bronze in the all-around final. She placed fifth in the vault final and took home the silver medal on uneven bars, behind compatriot Anastasia Ilyankova. The next day, she had the most challenging routine in the floor exercise final and received the bronze medal behind the defending floor exercise champion Mélanie de Jesus Santos and Eythora Thorsdottir of the Netherlands. This was her third medal for de Jesus dos Santos as the best decorated female gymnast of the championships.

Melnikova would compete at the European Games with Aliya Mustafina (later replaced by Anastasia Ilyankova) and Aleksandra Shchekoldina, according to a press release in May. During qualifying, she came in first and third on the vault and balance beam, qualifying to the three event finals. She also placed eighth on floor exercise, was the first reserve, and finished sixth on uneven bars, but she did not qualify for the final due to teammate Ilyankova's scoring higher. Melnikova received gold medal in the all-around final, putting her ahead of Lorette Charpy of France. Due to an allergic reaction, Ilyankova had to leave the uneven bars final the next day, and Melnikova replaced her. Melnikova earned silver on vault behind Slovenian Teja Belak, gold on uneven bars, and silver on balance beam behind Nina Derwael of Belgium.

Melnikova will be included in a year-long documentary series called All Around on the Olympic Channel, as well as American Morgan Hurd and Chen Yile of China, which will follow their lives and training leading up to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Melnikova appeared in the Russian Cup in August. She finished second in the all-around after two days of competition, behind junior national team member Vladislava Urazova. Melnikova earned silver on vault on the first day of an event finals, finishing second behind Lilia Akhaimova and bronze in uneven bars behind Daria Spiridonova and Urazova. She then pulled out of the floor final due to health issues. Melnikova was named to the nominative team for the 2019 World Championships by Akhaimova, Spiridonova, Anastasia Agafonova, Angelina Simakova (later replaced by Maria Paseka) and Aleksandra Shchekoldina shortly after the conclusion of the Russian Cup Melnikova. Melnikova was the only Russian gymnast to compete for all three world championships teams during the 2017-2020 quadrennium, thanks to this announcement.

During qualifying, she helped Russia qualify to the team final, behind the United States and China. Melnikova earned fourth place in the United States and Mélanie de Jesus Santos Santos de France's fourth place, behind Biles and Lee, who were fourth in eighth place, while Mélanie de Jesus Santos of France, the uneven bars finalist in third place behind Biles and Lee. Despite Valentina Rodionenko's, the head coach of the Russian women's gymnastics team, having low hopes for the team, they earned the silver medal in the team final, with Melnikova contributing scores on all four apparatuses.

Melnikova received the bronze medal behind Biles and Tang Xijing of China in an all-around final on Sunday. This was Melnikova's first individual gold medal at a world championships. Biles and Lee's third best balance beam score on the day was her third best balance beam score after Biles, Tang, and Flávia Saraiva of Brazil, tied with Canadian Ellie Black and Li Shijia of China. Melnikova finished fourth in the uneven bars final, with a score of 14.733. She continued on in the floor final and earned the bronze medal behind Biles and Lee the following day.

Melnikova was partnered with Ivan Stretovich at the Brabant Trophy in late October. They finished in second place behind the team from the Netherlands, which consisted of Sanna Veerman and Bart Deurloo. She represented Aichi, Japan, in December, winning gold on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam, and placing seventh on floor exercise.

Melnikova will be a member of the Lissone LAG club in mid-January. She would compete at the Stuttgart World Cup later this month. In Germany, the Stuttgart World Cup was postponed due to the COVID pandemic. Melnikova would be competing in a forthcoming tournament in Hiroshima with Elena Gerasimova (later replaced by Aleksandra Shchekoldina), Yana Vorona, and Yana Vorona in late September. She was on the Friendship & Solidarity Team, placing second in the Friendship team. Melnikova's highest all-around total of 56,000 points, as well as the second highest vault and balance beam scores behind American Shilese Jones and Zhang Jin of China respectively, though individual titles were not being contested.

In March, Melnikova competed at the Russian National Championships. Viktoria Listunova and Vladislava Urazova finished third in the all-around competition. Melnikova won gold on vault and floor exercise, and bronze on uneven bars, beating Urazova and Listunova in the event finals. Melnikova was later selected to compete in Basel, alongside Urazova, Listunova, and Elena Gerasimova. Melnikova qualified to the all-around, uneven bars, and floor exercise finals in first place, behind Jessica Gadirova in second place. Melnikova finished second behind Listunova in second place after being dissatisfied with both the uneven bars and the balance beam in the all-around final. Melnikova won bronze on vault behind Giulia Steingruber and Gadirova, and gained gold on the uneven bars on the first day of event finals. Melnikova took gold on floor exercise after Gadirova on the final day of the competition.

In June, Melnikova appeared at the Russian Cup for the first time. She came in first place in qualifying. She fell off the balance beam and ended third in the all-around final behind Listunova and Urazova. Melnikova, the senior coach of Russia's national artistic gymnastics team, announced that she and Listunova and Urazova will be on the Olympic team after the competition.

Melnikova qualified to the all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise finals at the Olympic Games. In addition, she helped the Russian Olympic Committee qualify to the team final in a surprise first place, ahead of the United States team. Simone Biles, the team's first four rotations, disqualified; Melnikova competed on both four apparatuses. Despite Melnikova and teammate Urazova missing off the balance beam, the Russian team nevertheless did a good job on other fronts and finished in first place, over three points ahead of the second place American team. This was the first time Russia had a gold medal in the Olympic team as a result of their previous team titles, which were attributed to the Soviet Union. In addition, it brought an end to Team USA's decade-long Olympic and World Championships winning streak.

Melnikova won the bronze medal after her first individual Olympic gold medal in all four of her routines and finished third, behind Sunisa Lee and Rebeca Andrade in third place. Melnikova finished fifth on vault and eighth on uneven bars on the first day of event finals. Melnikova won the bronze medal on floor exercise behind Jade Carey and Vanessa Ferrari on the second day and tied for second individual and third overall Olympic medals.

Melnikova would compete in the forthcoming World Championships alongside Yana Vorona, Maria Minaeva, and Olympic teammate Urazova in September. While competing in the all-around final and to all four apparatus finals, she progressed to the all-around finals. She received the gold medal in the all-around, becoming the third Russian woman to do so and the first since Aliya Mustafina did so in 2010. Melnikova ended the United States' eleven-year World/Olympic all-around champion streak by winning the all-around title. Melnikova claimed a bronze medal on vault behind Rebeca Andrade and Asia D'Amato two days after winning the all-around World. She earned a silver medal on floor exercise on the last day of competition, behind Mai Murakami.

Melnikova competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial in November. She won the three-event all-around, putting over four points ahead of Ta's Boura of France and Ciena Alipio of the United States. Melnikova then competed in the Swiss Cup, where she was partnered with Nikita Nagornyy. They won the competition ahead of the Ukrainian team of Illia Kovtun and Yelyzaveta Hubareva.

Melnikova returned to action at the Russian Cup in July. Viktoria Listunova and Yana Vorona respectively placed first on all-around, on vault, and on floor work, as well as second on uneven bars and balance beam. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Melnikova did not participate in any international competitions due to the International Gymnastics Federation's ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from participating in FIG-sanctioned competitions.

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