Anna Pavlova (gymnast)

Anna Anatolyevna Pavlova (Russian: А́нна Анато́льевна Па́влова; born September 6, 1987 in Orekhovo-Zuyevo) is a Russian-born artistic gymnast who won two bronze medals at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and represented Russia in other international competitions. In 2002 she had won the Russian National Championships.

Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlova
Personal information
Full nameAnna Anatolyevna Pavlova
Nickname(s)Anya, Pavs
Country represented Azerbaijan
Former countries represented Russia
Born (1987-09-06) September 6, 1987
Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Russian SSR, Soviet Union
HometownOrekhovo-Zuyevo, Russia
Height152 cm (5 ft 0 in)
Weight43 kg (95 lb)
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
Years on national team2000-2008 (Russia)
2013-15 (Azerbaijan)
ClubDinamo
Head coach(es)Nataliya Pavlova
Assistant coach(es)Leonid Arkaev
Music2008- 'Exodus' by Maksim; 2006- 'Allegretto' by Bond; 2004- 'Winter' by Bond
RetiredDecember 15, 2015
Medal record
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 0 0 2
World Championships 0 0 1
World Cup Final 0 0 1
European Championships 0 5 2
European Team Championships 1 0 0
Total 1 5 6
Representing  Azerbaijan
European Championships
2014 SofiaVault
FIG World Cup
2014 Ljubljana Uneven Bars
Representing  Russia
Olympic Games
2004 AthensTeam
2004 AthensVault
World Championships
2006 AarhusTeam
World Cup Final
2004 BirminghamVault
Goodwill Games
2001 BrisbaneBalance Beam
European Championships
2004 AmsterdamVault
2005 DebrecenAll-around
2005 DebrecenVault
2008 ClermontTeam
2004 AmsterdamTeam
2005 DebrecenBalance beam
European Team Championships
2003 MoscowTeam

Competing for Azerbaijan since 2013, she was the 2014 European silver medalist on vault. She was well known for her balletic style and clean technique.[1] Pavlova retired in 2015 at the age of 28.

Career

2000–2002

Pavlova first emerged on the international gymnastics scene in 2000, winning a gold medal on the uneven bars at the Junior European Championships. Although she was too young to compete as a senior at the World Championships in 2001, she was allowed to participate in the Goodwill Games, where she earned a silver medal on the balance beam. In 2001 Pavlova won the junior women's nationals.

In 2002, still too young to compete internationally as a senior, Pavlova won the Russian National Championships. She earned four medals, including team, vault and all-around gold, at the Junior European Championships that year.

2003

Pavlova competed at the 2003 World Championships during her first year as a senior gymnast, and the Russian team finished sixth. Pavlova did not earn an individual medal; she had qualified for the individual all-around and floor finals, but mistakes prevented her from placing among the top three.

2004

In 2004, Pavlova competed in the European Championships team competition. She fell from the uneven bars, which she was a favorite to win, and did not qualify for the all-around. Later that year, Pavlova claimed the Russian national title and made the Russian Olympic team.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Pavlova had her best performance to date. The Russian team fought their way back onto the medal podium, finishing third behind Romania and the United States. In the individual all-around, she placed fourth and missed the bronze medal by a fraction, 0.025, behind China's Zhang Nan. Pavlova won an individual bronze medal on the vault during the event finals, narrowly missing silver, whilst a mistake in beam finals cost her a medal. She finished fourth behind Romania's Alexandra Georgiana Eremia. Her floor music at the Olympics was "Winter" by Bond.

2005–2006

Pavlova is one of the few Russian gymnasts from the 2004 Olympic team who chose to continue competing; she won silver all-around at the 2005 European Championships. She also competed in the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, where she qualified to the all-around final, as well as the vault and beam apparatus finals. The following year, Pavlova competed at the 2006 World Championships, where she won a bronze medal with the Russian team. She once again qualified to the all-around, vault and beam finals.

2008

Pavlova was named to the Russian Olympic team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. On August 10, 2008, in the preliminary round, she performed her floor routine to "Exodus" by Maksim. She qualified fifth for the all-around final and also made the finals on vault, beam and floor. In the team final, Russia finished fourth; Romania won the bronze. In the vault final, Pavlova scored 0 on her second vault because she started before the green light was lit. In the floor final, she was still unsettled from the vault competition and did not perform well. Two days later, she finished fourth in the balance beam final, 0.050 behind China's Cheng Fei.

Pavlova (centre) at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

In November 2008, Pavlova tore two ligaments in her knee during her beam dismount at the DTB World Cup event in Stuttgart. Surgery was required to reattach the ligaments. Pavlova told a Russian sports website, "I hope, of course, that I'll be able to return to gymnastics, but I don't have full confidence in that yet."

Before her injury, Pavlova had placed third on vault in Stuttgart.[2] At the time of the injury, she was ranked third in the world on beam and vault.[3]

2009–2010

In August 2009, Pavlova resumed training.[1] At the end of September, she began competing at the local level. She participated in the All Russia Dinamo competition and won gold on the uneven bars and bronze on the balance beam. After having competed at several local competitions, her first big meet was scheduled to be the 2009 Voronin Memorial. Her father died just a few days before the event, and she had to withdraw to be with family. [4]

Pavlova appeared at the 2010 Russian Nationals in March with a heavily bandaged knee. Although she did not compete full-difficulty routines, she placed a respectable 10th in the individual all-around, and she won the gold medal with her team, the Central Federal District. She posted the highest score on vault to qualify for the event final, where she finished 5th.

2011

In 2011, Pavlova competed in the 2011 Trnava Cup, finishing second behind Romanian Larisa Iordache. Later that year, she competed in the Voronin Cup, finishing 5th in the all-around. She finished third in vault finals, despite a fall on her second vault, a layout Podkopayeva (Yurchenko 1/2 turn on, layout front somersault 1/2). Later that day, she finished 3rd again on beam, despite a near-fall on her 2.5 twist dismount.

Nationality change
"The decision to move to another team appeared quite recently. I was training hard, competing, I was trying hard, but despite my results I have provided during the selection competitions for the past several years, I haven’t been included even into the reserve for the Russian National team, not mentioning the selection for the international competitions."

—Sportbox, 2013[5]

Pavlova began to compete for Azerbaijan in November 2013, saying that Russian gymnastics did not give her sufficient scope. She said that she had always been interested in international competition, and Russian gymnastics did not give her the opportunities she wanted.[1] The Russian national coaches had not selected her for any major international meet since her knee surgery at the end of 2008.

It is also possible that politics may have been part of it. Pavlova said that "her vocal opposition to the political decisions" may have gone against her.[1]

2014

Pavlova was selected to compete at the 2014 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships along with another former Russian gymnast, Yulia Inshina. She qualified second into the vault finals behind Giulia Steingruber with a score of 14.516. In the vault finals, she scored a 14.583 which earned her the silver medal. This was her first medal at a major international meet since 2008 and the first medal she won competing for Azerbaijan. This was also Azerbaijan's first ever medal at the European Gymnastics Championships.

2015: Retirement

On December 15, 2015, it was announced that Pavlova would retire from elite gymnastics.[6] She has expressed desire to continue in the sport, as a gymnastics coach with her mother.[7]

Floor music
  • 2008-2010: "Exodus" by Maksim Mrvica
  • 2006-2007: "Juno and Avos" by Alexei Rybnikov
  • 2006: "Allegretto" by Bond
  • 2004-2005: "Wintersun" by Bond
  • 2003: "Korobushka" by Bond
  • 2000: "Smuglyanka" by Shvedov

Competitive history
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2003European Team Gymnastics Championships1st
World Championships6th10th5th7th
2004European Championships3rd2nd
Olympic Games3rd4th3rd4th
World Cup Final3rd8th
2005European Championships2nd2nd3rd
World Championships7th5th6th
2006World Championships3rd19th5th4th
World Cup Final4th4th
2008European Championships2nd
Olympic Games4th7th8th4th8th
2011National Championships2nd2nd6th6th6th
Russian Cup8th1st
2012National Championships2nd5th1st6th8th
Russian Cup5th5th1st5th5th
2013National Championships1st7th3rd5th4th
Gym Festival Trnava2nd2nd3rd3rd1st
Russian Cup3rd3rd8th2nd4th
Voronin Cup2nd2nd1st2nd3rd3rd
2014Ljubljana World Cup1st4th
European Championships2nd
Gym Festival Trnava1st1st3rd1st4th
International Bosphorus Tournament1st1st1st1st
World Championships
Voronin Cup4th3rd3rd3rd2nd3rd
  • Competitor for Azerbaijan
Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2014 World Championships Nanning Team 30 196.328
All-Around 70 51.098
Vault 27 12.699
Uneven Bars 82 12.933
Balance Beam 123 12.166
Floor Exercise 48 13.166
European Championships Sofia Team 16 147.729
Vault 2 14.583 2 14.516
Uneven Bars 41 12.800
Balance Beam 39 12.566
Floor Exercise 40 12.733
  • Competitor for Russia
Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2008 Olympic Games Beijing Team 4 180.625 3 244.400
All-Around 7 60.825 5 60.900
Vault 8 7.812 5 15.275
Uneven Bars 35 14.600
Balance Beam 4 15.900 6 15.825
Floor Exercise 8 14.125 7 15.125
European Championships Clermont-Ferrand Team 2 179.475 2 176.425
Vault 5 14.337 3 14.712
Balance Beam 13 14.750
Floor Exercise 5 14.875 7 14.875
2006 World Cup Final São Paulo Vault 4 14.725
Balance Beam 4 15.150
World Championships Aarhus Team 3 177.325 4 234.800
All-Around 19 57.625 15 58.425
Vault 5 14.975 7 14.700
Uneven Bars 36 14.350
Balance Beam 4 15.275 5 15.525
Floor Exercise 69 13.700
2005 World Championships Melbourne All-Around 7 36.387 8 36.174
Vault 5 9.237 5 9.312
Uneven Bars 47 8.362
Balance Beam 6 8.762 4 9.350
Floor Exercise 14 9.125
European Championships Debrecen All-Around 2 37.074 8 35.586
Vault 2 9.312 1 9.356
Uneven Bars 38 8.312
Balance Beam 3 9.325 2 9.287
Floor Exercise 14 8.600
2004 World Cup Final Birmingham Vault 3 9.418
Balance Beam 8 8.850
Olympic Games Athens Team 3 113.235 4 149.420
All-Around 4 38.024 7 37.711
Vault 3 9.475 5 9.437
Uneven Bars 46 9.237
Balance Beam 4 9.587 4 9.637
Floor Exercise 19 9.400
European Championships Amsterdam Team 3 110.423
All-Around 11 35.875
Vault 2 9.381 3 9.450
Uneven Bars 50 8.225
Balance Beam 12 8.950
Floor Exercise 9 9.200
2003 World Championships Anaheim Team 6 108.985 5 145.572
All-Around 10 36.736 6 36.812
Vault 5 9.356 3 9.431
Uneven Bars 76 8.712
Balance Beam 13 9.325
Floor Exercise 7 9.237 8 9.350

See also

References
  1. "Anna Pavlova Online". Anna-pavlova.net. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  2. "Score Chart". Anna Pavlova. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  3. fig-gymnastics.com Archived December 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Anna Pavlova Online". Anna-pavlova.net. 2013-02-21. Archived from the original on 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  5. Maria, Tsyruleva (12 December 2013). Анна Павлова: До последнего пыталась пробиться в сборную России [Anna Pavlova: I tried my best to get into the Russian team]. Sportbox.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  6. "The All Around Gymnastics News - Timeline - Facebook".
  7. "Призёр Олимпиады-2004 гимнастка Павлова завершила карьеру".
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