Marfa Ekimova

Marfa Ekimova (born 17 January 2005) is a Russian born British rhythmic gymnast.[1] She is the 2022 Commonwealth Games All-Around champion.

Marfa Ekimova
Country represented Great Britain
 England
Born (2005-01-17) 17 January 2005
Saint Petersburg, Russia
ResidenceLondon, England
Height157 cm (5 ft 2 in)
Weight40 kg (88 lb)
DisciplineRhythmic Gymnastics
LevelInternational Elite
Years on national team2021-
ClubWest London Gymnastics
Head coach(es)Rachel Ennis, Villy Antonova
Medal record
Rhythmic gymnastics
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2022 BirminghamTeam
Gold medal – first place2022 BirminghamAll-Around

Personal life

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at age two she moved to London, England.[2] She took up gymnastics at age six after having tried different sports, dance and theatre but, even though she stated that when she first tried the sport she hated it, rhythmic gymnastics was her passion.[3] She now trains up to eight hours a day.[2] In her spare time, Marfa is a passionate music lover, especially playing the bassoon and piano, and studies A Level music at Trinity Laban Conservatory as well as completing her NCFE Level 3 Diploma/Extended Diploma in Sport and Physical Activity at the City of Westminster College.[4] Ekimova speaks English and Russian.[1] Her dream is to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.[3]

Career

Ekimova debuted as a senior internationally at 2021 European Championships in Varna, representing Great Britain along Alice Leaper and Gemma Frizelle. She was 17th in the team competition, 33rd with hoop, 51st with ball and 37th with clubs.[5] 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.[6]

In 2022 she competed at the World Cup in Portimão in May, finishing 30th in the All-Around, 21st with hoop, 43rd with ball, 19th with clubs, 34th with ribbon.[7] In June she took part in the European Championships in Tel Aviv with teammates Louise Christie and Alice Leaper the senior national group and juniors Melissa Toma, Elizaveta Andreeva and Nicole Kalnina .[8] Marfa was 16th in the team competition, 23rd with hoop, 30th with ball, 28th with clubs and 31st in the All-Around.[9] In early August she competed at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, winning bronze in the team competition with Alice Leaper and Saffron Severn, she was 4th with hoop and ball, 6th with ribbon and won an historical gold in the All-Around, becoming the first English gymnast to do so.[10][11] And in September she was chosen as GBR's representative for the World Championships in Sofia, she was 38th with hoop and 35th with ball after day one of qualification, but she had to withdraw from competition.[12]

Achievements

Routine music information
Year Apparatus Music Title
2022 Hoop Guerrileros by Maxime Rodriguez
Ball Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps by The Pussycat Dolls
Clubs El Conquistador by Maxime Rodriguez
Ribbon Alma de Guitarra by Banderas
2021 Hoop Devil and Angel by Maxime Rodriguez
Ball To Patoma by Alkistis Protopsalti
Clubs El Conquistador by Maxime Rodriguez
Ribbon Alma de Guitarra by Banderas

References
  1. "EKIMOVA Marfa - FIG Athlete Profile". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  2. Editor, Rosamund Urwin, Media. "The Russian-born gymnast who jumped through hoops to win gold for England". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-10-08. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Marfa Ekimova wins individual all-around gold for England". Commonwealth Games - Birmingham 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  4. "CWC Student Wins British Gymnastics Championship". cwc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  5. "Senior Individual + Senior Group Team Results" (PDF). europeangymnastics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-06-13.
  6. "2021 World Championships All-Around Qualification" (PDF). usagym.
  7. "2022 Portimão World Cup Results" (PDF). ginastica.org.
  8. "2022 European Championships Nominatives Registration" (PDF). europeangymnastics.
  9. "2022 European Championships Result Book" (PDF). europeangymnastics.
  10. "2022 Commonwealth Games Rhythmic Gymnastics Result Book" (PDF). microplustimingservices.
  11. "Marfa Ekimova makes history to win Commonwealth gold for England". www.british-gymnastics.org. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  12. "2022 World Championships Result Book" (PDF). longinestiming.
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