Marfa Ekimova

Marfa Ekimova (born 17 January 2005) is a Russian-born British rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games all-around champion and the two-time (2022, 2023) British national champion.

Personal life
Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at age two she moved to London, England. She took up gymnastics at age six after having tried different sports, dance and theatre, although she disliked it when she first tried it. She now trains up to eight hours a day.

In her spare time, Ekimova enjoys music, especially playing the bassoon and piano. She studied A Level music at Trinity Laban Conservatory. She also studied for her NCFE Level 3 Diploma/Extended Diploma in Sport and Physical Activity at the City of Westminster College and plans to study sports management. Ekimova speaks English and Russian. Her dream is to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Junior career
In 2019, Ekimova was the English junior national champion and the bronze medalist at the British junior national championships. She was initially meant to compete at the junior 2020 European Championships, but she withdrew due to the COVID pandemic.

2021: Senior debut
Ekimova debuted as a senior internationally at 2021 European Championships in Varna, representing Great Britain along with her teammates Alice Leaper and Gemma Frizelle. She was 17th in the team competition, 33rd with hoop, 51st with ball and 37th with clubs. In October she was selected for the World Championship in Kitakyushu, where she was 44th in the all-around, 39th with hoop, 53rd with ball, 38th with clubs and 59th with ribbon.

2022: Commonwealth Games Gold
In 2022, she became the English senior national champion. Later that month, she also became the British all-around champion and won three of the four apparatus finals.

At the end of May, she competed at the World Cup in Portimão, finishing 30th in the all-around, 21st with hoop, 43rd with ball, 19th with clubs, and 34th with ribbon. In June she took part in the European Championships in Tel Aviv with teammates Louise Christie and Alice Leaper, the senior national groupm and juniors Melissa Toma, Elizaveta Andreeva and Nicole Kalnina. Ekimova was 16th in the team competition with her teammates. Individually, she was 23rd with hoop, 30th with ball, 28th with clubs and 31st in the all-around.

In early August she competed at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She won bronze in the team competition with Alice Leaper and Saffron Severn. In the all-around final, she won a historic gold, becoming the first English gymnast to do so. In the apparatus finals, she was 4th with hoop and ball and 6th with ribbon.

In September she was chosen as to compete at the World Championships in Sofia. She was 38th with hoop and 35th with ball after day one of qualification, but she had to withdraw due to a knee injury that prevented her from walking on the second day of the competition.

2023
In May, Ekimova competed at the 2023 European Championships. She came in 29th place in the all-around. In June, she repeated her English national title, and in July, she defended her British title as well. At the 2023 World Championships in Valencia, she came in 45th place in the all-around qualifications.

2024
Ekimova competed at the 2024 World Cup in Sofia, and she ended 27th in the all-around. She earned a personal best score with each apparatus. At the 2024 European Championships held in Budapest, she came in 28th in the all-around.

Achievements

 * First English rhythmic gymnast to win a gold medal in the all-around at the Commonwealth Games.