Alexandra Agiurgiuculese
Alexandra Ana Maria Agiurgiuculese (born 15 January 2001) is a Romanian-Italian individual rhythmic gymnast who represents Italy. She is a World Championships silver and bronze medalist, and competed at the 2020 Olympic Games. She is the first Italian gymnast to win the Longines Prize for Elegance. She is a four-time medalist at the 2016 European Junior Championships. At the national level, she is the 2019 Italian National All-around champion, three-time (2017, 2018, 2020) Italian National All-around silver medalist.
| Alexandra Agiurgiuculese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg.webp) Agiurgiuculese in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Alexandra Ana Maria Agiurgiuculese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Alex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former countries represented |  Romania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 January 2001 Iași, Romania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Desio, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Rhythmic Gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior international elite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2015 - present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Elena Aliprandi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former coach(es) | Špela Dragas, Magda Pigano | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eponymous skills | The Agiurgiuculese (Ag Jump): turning split leap with ring of the back leg, take off and landing on the same leg (jete en tournant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World ranking | 22 WC 6 WCC (2017 Season) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Last updated on: 28 May 2021. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal life
Agiurgiuculese was born in Iași, Romania. She has a brother, Sebastian Constantin, and a sister, Madalina. Her mother is Romanian while her father is of half-Italian, half-Slovene descent. Her father worked at a factory in Italy and sent money to the family in Romania. Her mother and brothers later joined him. She lived in Romania from ages 8 to 10 with her grandparents and trained with the Romanian National rhythmic gymnastics team.[2] She moved to Martignacco,[3] where she attended middle school and later lived first with her coach, Spela Dragas, in Udine for 4 years.[4] She speaks Romanian, Italian, and English.
She joined the Aeronautica Militare at 17 and is a first airman as of 2020.[5] She lived in Udine, until she moved to Desio in late 2021.
Career
Junior
Representing Romania, Agiurgiuculese won the national competitions in Romania and competed in numerous international events such as at the 2011 Irina Delanu Cup and 2010 Miss Valentine Cup.
In 2012, Agiurgiuculese began to represent Italy. She won the junior national championships in 2012, 2013 and 2015. At the 2014 MTM Ljubljana, she won gold in ball and silver in hoop, clubs, and ribbon. She also competed at the Italian Serie A. She competed at the 2015 Moscow Junior Grand Prix, finishing 8th in the all-around. She won the all-around gold at the 2015 MTM Cup in Ljubljana.
Agiurgiuculese competed at the 2016 Lisboa Junior World Cup, taking bronze in ball, and finished 8th in rope, 7th in hoop, and 4th in clubs.[6] She won silver in rope, and bronze in hoop and ball at the 2016 Pesaro Junior World Cup. At the 2016 Sofia Junior World Cup, Italy won the team bronze, and Agiurgiuculese took silver in ball and finished 4th in clubs.[7] At the 2016 European Junior Championships, Italy won team bronze, and Agiurgiuculese qualified to all apparatus finals. She won silver in ball and clubs, and bronze in rope, and finished 4th in hoop.[8]
Senior
In 2017 season, Agiurgiuculese made her senior international debut at the 2017 Grand Prix Moscow finishing 8th in the all-around, she qualified to all the apparatus finals placing 5th in clubs, 6th in hoop, 7th in ball and 8th in ribbon. She competed at the 2017 Pesaro World Cup and finished 13th all-around and qualified to two apparatus finals, where she won bronze with ribbon and placed 4th with ball. On 5–7 May Agiurgiuculese competed at the 2017 Sofia World Cup finishing 13th in the all-around, she qualified in 2 apparatus finals where she won a silver medal in ball and finished 8th in ribbon. On 19–21 May Agiurgiuculese along with teammates Milena Baldassarri and Alessia Russo represented the individual seniors for Italy at the 2017 European Championships, she qualified in the ball finals finishing in last place. Agiurgiuculese won silver in the all-around at the Italian National Championships behind Veronica Bertolini. On 7–9 July Agiurgiuculese finished just out of the medals placing 4th in the all-around at the 2017 Berlin World Challenge Cup, she qualified in 3 apparatus final taking a silver medal in hoop, placed 5th in ball and 4th in ribbon. On 5–7 August Agiurgiuculese finished 7th in the all-around behind Bulgaria's Katrin Taseva at the 2017 Minsk World Challenge Cup, she qualified in 3 apparatus finals and won bronze in ball, finished 6th in hoop and 8th in clubs. On 11–13 August Agiurgiuculese competed at the 2017 Kazan World Challenge Cup finishing 10th in the all-around, she qualified in 3 apparatus finals and finished 8th in hoop, 5th in ball, 6th in clubs.
Together with Milena Baldassarri, Agiurgiuculese represented as individual gymnasts for Italy at the 2017 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Pesaro, where she finished 8th In the All-around behind Neviana Vladinova, she also qualified in three apparatus finals and finished 7th in ball, 5th in clubs and 4th in ribbon. Agiurgiuculese was awarded with Longines Prize for Elegance at the games, becoming the first Italian gymnast to win the award.[9]
In 2018, she started her season competing at the MTM Ljubljana tournament where she finished 4th in the all-around behind Julia Evchik. On 13–15 April Agiurgiuculese competed at the 2018 Pesaro World Cup, finishing in a disappointing 17th position. On 27–29 April Agiurgiuculese then competed at the 2018 Baku World Cup where she finished 16th in the all-around. On 4–6 May she then competed at the 2018 Guadalajara World Challenge Cup finishing 8th in the all-around, she qualified in 2 apparatus finals finishing 5th in clubs and 8th in ribbon. On 15–17 May Agiurgiuculese competed at the Holon Senior International tournament where she won gold in the all-around with a total of 66.300 points. On 29–30 June she competed at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, where she won gold All Around medal with a total of 71.150 points.
At the 2018 World Championships Alexandra won a historic bronze medal in the ball final with the score of 19.900. Her bronze medal was the first individual medal for Italy in 27 years at the World Championships.[10]
In 2019, Agiurgiuculese represented Italy together with Milena Baldassarri, Alessia Russo and Sofia Maffeis at the 2019 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, who placed 4th in Team competition. Alexandra then placed 7th in All-Around Qualifications and qualified to Hoop and Clubs finals. In All-around Final, she ended on 6th place and secured Italy an Olympic spot for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She also placed 6th in Hoop final and 5th in Clubs final. During her ball exercise at the 2019 World Championships, she performed an original body difficulty element, which was given a 0.5 point difficulty value and named "The Agiurguiculese" after her.[11]
In 2021, she started her season competing at the FIG Ritam Cup in Belgrade, Serbia, where she finished 1st in the all-around. On 7–9 May she then competed at the 2021 Baku World Cup finishing 4th in the All-around. At the 2020 Olympic Games, she finished fifteenth in the qualification round for the individual all-around.[12]
In 2022, just after her birthday, it was confirmed, that she left her coach Spela Dragas from ASU Udinese and moved to Desio.[13]
Achievements
- First Italian individual rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an individual apparatus final at the FIG World Cup series.
- First Italian individual rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an individual All-around at the FIG World Cup series.
- First Italian individual rhythmic gymnast to win a gold medal in an individual apparatus final at the FIG World Cup series.
- First Italian individual rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an individual apparatus final at the World Championships.
- First to perform the original body difficulty element, a turning split leap with ring of the back leg and take off and landing on the same leg, named "The Agiurguiculese" or "The Ag."[11]
Routine music information
| Year | Apparatus | Music title |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Clubs | Batucada / Besame Mucho (Dub Mix) by The Booty Jocks / Buddha Bar |
| Ball | Your Love by Ennio Morricone & Dulce Pontes | |
| Hoop | Black Skinhead/Personal Jesus by Kanye West/Marilyn Manson | |
| Rope | Hava Nagila by DJ Jacob | |
| 2017 | Ribbon | Va Pensiero by Albano Carrisi (former), The Wall/ Another One Bites the Dust by Pink Floyd/ Queen |
| Clubs | Pharaoh by Snavs | |
| Ball | Hallelujah by Susan Boyle | |
| Hoop | Earthshaker/ Army of Drummers by Audiomachine | |
| 2018 | Ribbon | The Wall/ Another One Bites the Dust by Pink Floyd/ Queen |
| Clubs | Habibi Min Zaman, Manea-K by Balkan Beat Box, Max Pashm | |
| Ball | Zajdi, zajdi by Amira Medunjanin | |
| Hoop | Gangsta's Paradise by 2WEI | |
| 2019 | Ribbon | La Cumparsita by Milva |
| Clubs | Area by Magnus The Magnus | |
| Ball | House Of The Rising Sun by Heavy Young Heathens | |
| Hoop | The Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone | |
| 2020 | Hoop | Für Elise by Hidden Citizens |
| Ball | Coro A Bocca Chiusa from Madama Butterfly by Filippa Giordano | |
| Clubs | Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious) by Teriyaki Boyz | |
| Ribbon | You're The One That I Want by Alex & Sierra, Olivia Newton-John | |
| Rope | bury a friend by Billie Ellish | |
| 2021 | Hoop | Für Elise by Hidden Citizens |
| Ball | Rinascita by ? | |
| Clubs | Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious) by Teriyaki Boyz | |
| Ribbon | You're The One That I Want by Alex & Sierra, Olivia Newton-John | |
| 2022/2023 | Hoop | Seasoned Oak/ Zhelka by Daniel Pemberton/ Elitsa Todorova |
| Ball | La donna cannone by Francesco De Gregori | |
| Clubs | I Will Follow Him by God's Angels | |
| Ribbon | Can't Help Falling in Love [dark version] by Tommee Profitt, brooke | |
Competitive highlights
(Team competitions in seniors are held only at the World Championships, Europeans and other Continental Games.)
| International: Senior | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2023 | European Championships | 12th | 4th | 15th (Q) | 17th (Q) | 8th | |
| World Challenge Cup Portimão | 7th | 13th (Q) | 8th | 6th | 4th | ||
| 2022 | World Challenge Cup Pamplona | 12th | 7th | 14th (Q) | 12th (Q) | 11th (Q) | |
| World Cup Tashkent | 7th | 6th | 10th (Q) | 9th (Q) | 4th | ||
| 2021 | World Championships | 2nd | 16th (Q) | 6th | |||
| World Challenge Cup Cluj-Napoca | 7th | 6th | 3rd | 11th | 3rd | ||
| Olympic Games | 15th (Q) | ||||||
| World Cup Pesaro | 13th | 23rd (Q) | 9th (Q) | 7th | 24th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Baku | 4th | 7th | 1st | 4th | 8th | ||
| FIG Ritam Cup | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| 2019 | World Championships | 6th | 4th | 6th | 9th (Q) | 5th | 36th (Q) |
| World Cup Portimao | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 14th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Cluj-Napoca | 11th | 4th | 15th (Q) | 29th (Q) | 2nd | ||
| World Cup Minsk | 4th | 7th | 6th | 5th | 6th | ||
| European Games | 4th | 5th | 6th | 6th | 6th | ||
| European Championships | 4th | 9th (Q) | 15th (Q) | 12th (Q) | 21st (Q) | ||
| World Cup Guadalajara | 3rd | 6th | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | ||
| World Cup Baku | 10th | 10th (Q) | 16th (Q) | 8th | 12th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Pesaro | 10th | 9th (Q) | 19th (Q) | 2nd | 10th (Q) | ||
| MTM Ljubljana Tournament | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | ||
| 2018 | World Championships | 9th | 3rd | 14th (Q) | 3rd | 10th (Q) | 4th |
| World Cup Kazan | 7th | 12th (Q) | 5th | 6th | 11th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Minsk | 11th | 13th (Q) | 9th (Q) | 12th (Q) | 13th (Q) | ||
| European Championships | 8th | NT | |||||
| World Cup Guadalajara | 8th | 10th (Q) | 5th | 5th | 8th | ||
| World Cup Baku | 16th | 21st (Q) | 14th (Q) | 16th (Q) | 14th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Pesaro | 17th | 12th (Q) | 48th (Q) | 9th (Q) | 9th (Q) | ||
| MTM Ljubljana Tournament | 4th | 16th (Q) | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||
| National | |||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Ball | Ribbon | Hoop | Clubs |
| 2022 | Italian National Championships | 4th | 7th (Q) | 3rd | 5th | 11th (Q) | |
| 2021 | Italian National Championships | 3rd | |||||
| 2020 | Italian National Championships | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 11th (Q) | 2nd | 6th |
| 2019 | Italian National Championships | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st |
| 2018 | Italian National Championships | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st |
| 2017 | Italian National Championships | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 4th | 2nd |
| Q = Qualifications (Did not advance to Event Final due to the 2 gymnast per country rule, only Top 8 highest score); WR = World Record; WD = Withdrew; NT = No Team Competition; OC = Out of Competition(competed but scores not counted for qualifications/results) | |||||||
References
- "FIG World standings for rhythmic gymnastics". International Federation of Gymnastics. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- Bambini, Nicola. "Alexandra Agiurgiuculese: "La mia vita tra body, pizza e tacchi alti"". Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- "Ginnastica. La giovanissima Alexandra, stella della pedana". www.avvenire.it. 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- "intervista ad Alexandra Agiurgiuculese". ilfriuliveneziagiulia. Archived from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 2016-08-01.
- "The Air Force at the Italian rhythmic gymnastics championships". Difesa Online. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- "Torneo Lisbona: argento alla fune per Alexandra". Ginnastica Ritmica Italia. 20 March 2016.
- "Pesaro, torneo junior: pioggia di medaglie per l'Italia". Ginnastica Ritmica Italia.
- "Double gold for Russia on day 2 of Rhythmic Europeans". European Union of Gymnastics. 18 June 2016.
- "Italy's Alexandra Agiurgiuculese presented with the Longines Prize for Elegance at the 35th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships 2017 in Pesaro". Longines. Longines Watch Co. Francillon Ltd. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- "Italy's Agiurgiuculese inspired by unexpected World medal". Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 13 September 2018.
- "New Rhythmic body difficulty element named for Italy's Agiurgiuculese". gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
- "Rhythmic Gymnastics — Individual All-Around — Qualification — Results" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- "Agiurgiuculese, compleanno con addio a Udine: la campionessa di ginnastica ritmica si è trasferita a Desio" (in Italian). 13 January 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.