Aliya Yussupova

Aliya Yussupova (Әлия Мақсұтқызы Жүсіпова, Äliia Maqsūtqyzy Jüsıpova; born 15 May 1984) is a retired individual rhythmic gymnast who competed for Kazakhstan, coached by Irina Viner. In February 2021, she became the president of the Kazakhstan Gymnastics Federation.

Personal life
Aliya Yussupova is a Sunni Muslim of Kazakh ethnicity.

Career


Yussupova moved to Moscow and began training with renowned Russian coach Irina Viner.

She won two silver medals in ball and clubs at the 2004 World Cup Final in Moscow. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she qualified for the finals in 5th place. In the finals, she took fourth place with a total of 103.975 (Ribbon 25.550, Clubs 26.325, Ball 26.600, Hoop 25.500).

Yussupova won the Kazakhstani National Championships in the individual all-around competition in 2000–2005. At the 2006 Asian championships in Surat, India (from 29 July to 3 August), she swept the rhythmic gymnastics medals. She won six gold medals, including four individual apparatus titles, the team gold and the individual all-around title. At the 2007 World Championships, she finished 6th in the all-around.

She competed in her second Olympics at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she finished 5th in the all-around event finals. She was the all-around bronze medalist at the 2009 Universiade. At the 2009 Asian championships in Astana, she won all six gold medals again.

Yussupova retired from competition at the end of the 2009 season.

Coaching career
In 2013, she started to train fellow Kazakhstani rhythmic gymnast Sabina Ashirbayeva. Her other notable students include Alina Adilkhanova and Elzhana Taniyeva.

Achievements

 * First Asian and Kazakh rhythmic gymnast to medal at the World Cup final.
 * First Kazakh gymnast to place in top 10 Finals in the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008).