Irina Karavayeva

Irina Vladimirovna Karavayeva (born 18 May 1975 in Krasnodar) is a Russian trampoline gymnast, competing at an international level since 1990.

Irina Karavayeva
Personal information
Full nameIrina Vladimirovna Karavayeva
Country represented Russia
Born (1975-05-18) 18 May 1975
Krasnodar, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
DisciplineTrampoline gymnastics
Head coach(es)Vitaly Dubko
Assistant coach(es)Ludmila Nemejan
Medal record
Women's trampoline gymnastics
Representing  Russia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1994 Porto Individual
Gold medal – first place 1994 Porto Team
Gold medal – first place 1996 Vancouver Team
Gold medal – first place 1998 Sydney Individual
Gold medal – first place 1998 Sydney Team
Gold medal – first place 1999 Sun City Individual
Gold medal – first place 1999 Sun City Team
Gold medal – first place 2003 Hannover Team
Gold medal – first place 2005 Eindhoven Individual
Gold medal – first place 2005 Eindhoven Synchro
Gold medal – first place 2007 Quebec Individual
Gold medal – first place 2010 Metz Synchro
Silver medal – second place 1996 Vancouver Individual
Silver medal – second place 2001 Odense Individual
Silver medal – second place 2005 Eindhoven Team
Silver medal – second place 2007 Quebec Synchro
Silver medal – second place 2009 St Petersburg Team
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Sun City Synchro
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Quebec Team
World Games
Silver medal – second place 2005 Duisburg Synchro
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Akita Synchro
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Antibes Individual
Gold medal – first place 1997 Eindhoven Team
Gold medal – first place 1998 Dessau Team
Gold medal – first place 2000 Eindhoven Individual
Gold medal – first place 2000 Eindhoven Team
Gold medal – first place 2002 Saint Petersburg Team
Gold medal – first place 2004 Sofia Individual
Gold medal – first place 2004 Sofia Team
Gold medal – first place 2006 Metz Individual
Gold medal – first place 2006 Metz Synchro
Gold medal – first place 2010 Varna Individual
Gold medal – first place 2010 Varna Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Odense Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Odense Synchro

Career

Originally beginning her sports career as a tumbler, Karavayeva soon switched to trampolining and excelled. She competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games,[1] becoming the first female Olympic champion in this discipline. She is a three-time European Champion, 3 time World Champion and 2000 Olympic Champion. She belongs to the Krasnodar club and is coached by Vitaly Dubko.

She is well known within the sport of gymnastics as being a dedicated and driven athlete. This was especially made apparent during the 1999 World Championships in Sun City, where she won her third world title, in spite of severe back pain, that put her in a clinic for the following two months.

During the 2001 Trampoline World Championships, held in July, in the city of Odense, the gold medal was awarded Karavayeva incorrectly following a serious judging mistake. Karavayeva, at the World Games in August 2001, made the following statement; "I very much regret the mistake of the judges at the World Championships in Denmark. I consider that it is necessary to correct this mistake and I decided to give the Gold Medal to my friend Ana Dogonadze from Germany in the spirit of friendship and fair-play." FIG (Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique) rules state that once a medal has been awarded, official results cannot be changed. However, FIG President and IOC Member, Mr Bruno Grandi, made an exception to this ruling and allowed the error to be corrected. This led to Karavayeva being awarded the silver medal. Following this incident, she received the International Fair Play award from the hand of IOC President, Jacques Rogge.

Karavayeva took the World Record for the most difficult trampolining routine completed in a competition by a woman. The difficulty was 15.60. This record was broken on October 8, 2011, by Emma Smith (GBR), at the Trampoline and Tumbling World Cup, held in Odense, Denmark.

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Irina Karavayeva". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.


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