Vera Tugolukova

Vera Tugolukova (born 16 September 2008) is a Russian-born rhythmic gymnast who has competed for Cyprus in international competitions since 2023. She will represent Cyprus at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Russia
In 2022, Tugolukova won the gold medal with the hoop at the Russian Junior Championships. At the Children of Asia International Sport Games in Vladivostok, she won silver all-around as well as gold in the ribbon final, bronze in the ball final, and silver in the club final. She could not compete in International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) sponsored competitions due to the suspension of Russian athletes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In November 2022, the FIG announced that Tugolukova had changed her nationality to Cyprus. Irina Viner, head coach of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team, noted that Tugolukova's parents had moved to Cyprus.

Junior
Tugolukova joined the Cypriot national team as a junior in 2023 and her first international competition representing Cyprus was in March at the Aphrodite Cup in Athens, Greece, finishing fifth in the all-around in her age category and winning silver in the hoop final. Then at the Sofia Cup, she won two golds in the ball and club finals and silver in the ribbon final, while in hoop she was fifth. In the AGF Trophy in Baku, Azerbaijan, she won gold medals in the all-around and with the hoop and silver medals in the ball and clubs finals.

Tugolukova was selected to compete at the 2023 Junior World Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She competed with hoop, ball, and clubs, while her teammate, Nika Khodareva, did so with the ribbon. Tugolukova qualified for three apparatus finals and finished seventh in hoop, fifth in ball, and sixth in clubs.

Senior
Tugolukova became age-eligible for senior competitions in 2024. She made her senior debut at the Palaio Faliro World Cup and finished sixth in the all-around. In the apparatus finals, she won a bronze medal in the ribbon final, which was the first-ever medal for Cyprus on the FIG World Cup series. At her next event, the Sofia World Cup, she finished 14th in the all-around. She then won three medals at the first edition of the European Cup in Baku: silver with the ribbon and bronze with the hoop and clubs. At the 2024 European Championships in Budapest, she finished 11th in the all-around during the qualification round. As the highest-ranked gymnast from a country that had not already qualified, Tugolukova earned the continental berth for the 2024 Summer Olympics ahead of Poland's Liliana Lewińska. The Polish Gymnastics Federation protested the results and filed appeals to the FIG and the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation. Tugolukova's Olympic qualification was confirmed by the FIG on 4 June. She finished 16th in the all-around final, fourth in the clubs final, and seventh in the ball final.

Achievements

 * First Cypriot rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an individual apparatus final at the FIG World Cup series.