Ksenia Semenova
Encyclopedia
Ksenia Andreyevna Semenova (born 20 October 1992 in Novomoskovsk
, Russia) is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2007 World Champion
on the uneven bars, and the 2008 European Champion on the uneven bars and the balance beam. She was a member of the silver-medal-winning Russian team at the 2008 European Championships. Semenova is the 2009 European All-Around Champion.
, scoring an exceptional 15.95 on uneven bars, blowing away the rest of the field with her world leading start value of 7.2. She also won balance beam with an exceptional 15.85 and placed 3rd on floor exercise. In march at the Russian National Championships she helped the Central region to victory in the team competition, won the uneven bars with 15.975 and took 3rd on beam. Semenova was unable to compete at the European championships in April but returned to win the uneven bars competition at the Russian Cup in July. Her main competition of the year came at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
in September where she succeeded in becoming world champion on the uneven bars scoring 16.35 over Nastia Liukin
and Yang Yilin
, making her the first Russian world champion in gymnastics since her idol Svetlana Khorkina
.
Aged just 15, Semenova represented Russia at the 2008 Summer Olympics
and placed 4th in the all-around
, just out of medal contention but surpassing all expectations. Semenova's team was considered to be one of the top four competitive teams (along with China, the USA, and Romania), but narrowly missed an opportunity to medal in Beijing, trailing the third place Romanian team by less than a full point. Semenova also placed sixth in the uneven bars competition. In the team preliminaries, she placed 8th overall on balance beam; her excellent scores almost qualified her to compete in the balance beam finals. However, only two athletes from each country may compete in the event finals. Her teammates, Anna Pavlova
and Ksenia Afanasyeva
, qualified in sixth and seventh place, edging her out of the competition. Semenova and Afansyeva both earned a score of 15.775, but the tie-breaking rules gave the advantage to Afanasyeva. Semenova competed in the uneven bars finals placing a respectable 6th, but was left behind the front runners Nastia Liukin
, Yang Yilin
, He Kexin
and Beth Tweddle
because of a deficit in start value, which Semenova had little time to upgrade due to her determination to excel in the all around competition. Semenova ended the season with a wrist injury that prevented her from competing at the world cup finals in Madrid.
. She won the uneven bars and floor exercise to book her place on the European championships squad. Semenova placed first in the all-around competition at the 2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships
in Milan, Italy, just ahead of her teammate Afanasyeva. In the event finals, she was second on the uneven bars behind Beth Tweddle
of the United Kingdom and third on floor, behind Tweddle and the 2006 World Champion, the Italian Vanessa Ferrari
. Semenova also qualified for the balance beam final and finished in fifth place with an uncharacteriscically shaky routine. In July she suffered a minor injury to her wrist keeping her out of the Russian Cup, but has been confirmed to the Russian team for world championships in October along with Yekaterina Kurbatova, Anna Myzdrikova
and Ksenia Afanasyeva
who eventually withdrew due to an injury. After a qualifying round marred by wobbles and a fall on her floor routine, she was 10th going into the all-around but failed to make any event finals. Another fall from the uneven bars during the first rotation prevented her from a better placement and she finished 13th overall.
. She also performs a Deltchev salto on uneven bars, now an unusual skill in the women's sport and an uncommon piked double Arabian dismount.
She has a skill on floor named after her, a double spin in back attitude which carries a D rating under the 2009–2012 Code of Points
.
Novomoskovsk, Russia
Novomoskovsk , called Bobriki before 1934 and Stalinogorsk between 1934 and 1961, is a city in Tula Oblast, Russia, located at the source of the Don and Shat Rivers. Population: 143,000 ; 107,000 ; 76,000 ....
, Russia) is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2007 World Champion
2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1 to 9 September 2007.Oldest and youngest competitors- Men :- Women :- Finals :- Qualifications :- Floor :...
on the uneven bars, and the 2008 European Champion on the uneven bars and the balance beam. She was a member of the silver-medal-winning Russian team at the 2008 European Championships. Semenova is the 2009 European All-Around Champion.
2007
Semenova broke onto the international scene at the WOGA classic in January where she placed first on uneven bars and balance beam. She continued her success as part of the Russian team at the Gymnix International in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, scoring an exceptional 15.95 on uneven bars, blowing away the rest of the field with her world leading start value of 7.2. She also won balance beam with an exceptional 15.85 and placed 3rd on floor exercise. In march at the Russian National Championships she helped the Central region to victory in the team competition, won the uneven bars with 15.975 and took 3rd on beam. Semenova was unable to compete at the European championships in April but returned to win the uneven bars competition at the Russian Cup in July. Her main competition of the year came at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1 to 9 September 2007.Oldest and youngest competitors- Men :- Women :- Finals :- Qualifications :- Floor :...
in September where she succeeded in becoming world champion on the uneven bars scoring 16.35 over Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
and Yang Yilin
Yang Yilin
Yang Yilin is a Chinese gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic all-around bronze medalist and a member of the gold medal winning Chinese Olympics gymnastics team. Yang was also the 2007 World Championships bronze medalist on the uneven bars.-Gymnastic career:...
, making her the first Russian world champion in gymnastics since her idol Svetlana Khorkina
Svetlana Khorkina
Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina is a popular Russian gymnast and seven-time Olympic medalist, who is now a deputy at the Russian State Duma. With an unprecedented nine gold, eight silver, and three bronze World Championships medals, she is one of the most successful female gymnasts of her era and has...
.
2008
Semenova's first major meet came in April with the European championships, where she helped Russia take silver in the team competition and secured gold in both the uneven bars and the balance beam, with scores of 15.9 and 15.95 respectively. In may she competed at the Moscow Stars World Cup where she won another gold on the bars scoring 16.075. Her success continued in June when she finished 2nd at the Dutch Open, behind Anna Pavlova, the two of them leading an all Russian sweep of places 1 to 6. Semenova had problems during the Russian Cup in July, where she fell on beam in qualifications and on vault in the all around final, but she still managed to take silver behind her teammate Afanasyeva.Aged just 15, Semenova represented Russia at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Russia at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Russia competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, represented by the Russian Olympic Committee. Russia competed in all sports except baseball, football, field hockey, softball and taekwondo.-Medalists:...
and placed 4th in the all-around
Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, three different gymnastics disciplines were contested: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the Beijing National Indoor Stadium on August 9–19. The rhythmic gymnastics events were held at the Beijing...
, just out of medal contention but surpassing all expectations. Semenova's team was considered to be one of the top four competitive teams (along with China, the USA, and Romania), but narrowly missed an opportunity to medal in Beijing, trailing the third place Romanian team by less than a full point. Semenova also placed sixth in the uneven bars competition. In the team preliminaries, she placed 8th overall on balance beam; her excellent scores almost qualified her to compete in the balance beam finals. However, only two athletes from each country may compete in the event finals. Her teammates, Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlova (gymnast)
Anna Anatolyevna Pavlova , is a Russian artistic gymnast training at MGFSO Dynamo in Moscow who was a double bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. She is well known for her beautiful balletic style and clean technique. She is trained by her mother Nataliya Evgenevna Pavlova...
and Ksenia Afanasyeva
Ksenia Afanasyeva
Ksenia Dmitrievna Afanasyeva is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 World Champion in the Floor Exercise, and represented Russia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 1st day of competition, Ksenia qualified in 6th for the all around, however she did not qualify because of the two per...
, qualified in sixth and seventh place, edging her out of the competition. Semenova and Afansyeva both earned a score of 15.775, but the tie-breaking rules gave the advantage to Afanasyeva. Semenova competed in the uneven bars finals placing a respectable 6th, but was left behind the front runners Nastia Liukin
Nastia Liukin
Anastasia Valeryevna "Nastia" Liukin is a Russian-American artistic gymnast. She was the 2008 Olympic individual all-around Champion, the 2005 and 2007 World Champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World Champion on the uneven bars...
, Yang Yilin
Yang Yilin
Yang Yilin is a Chinese gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic all-around bronze medalist and a member of the gold medal winning Chinese Olympics gymnastics team. Yang was also the 2007 World Championships bronze medalist on the uneven bars.-Gymnastic career:...
, He Kexin
He Kexin
He Kexin is a Chinese gymnast. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing she won gold medals on the uneven bars and as a member of the Chinese Artistic Gymnastics team. In 2008, she won two World Cup titles on the uneven bars. On the bars she was one of the few gymnasts in the world to score over 17.00...
and Beth Tweddle
Beth Tweddle
Elizabeth "Beth" Kimberly Tweddle MBE is an English gymnast. Tweddle is a three time world champion having won the 2010 World Championships and 2006 World Championshipson the uneven bars and the 2009 World Championships on the floor...
because of a deficit in start value, which Semenova had little time to upgrade due to her determination to excel in the all around competition. Semenova ended the season with a wrist injury that prevented her from competing at the world cup finals in Madrid.
2009
Semenova started her season at the Russian National Championships where she placed second in the all around to outstanding junior Aliya MustafinaAliya Mustafina
Aliya Fargatovna Mustafina , born 30 September 1994 in Yegorievsk, Russia is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2010 All Around World Champion. She also won Gold with the Russian team at the same championships and was the 2009 Russian national champion in the all around and on the balance beam...
. She won the uneven bars and floor exercise to book her place on the European championships squad. Semenova placed first in the all-around competition at the 2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships
2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 3rd Individual European Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Milan, Italy, on 29 March to 5 April 2009.- Medal winners :-Individual all-around:- Floor :- Pommel horse :- Rings :- Vault :- Parallel bars :- Horizontal bar :...
in Milan, Italy, just ahead of her teammate Afanasyeva. In the event finals, she was second on the uneven bars behind Beth Tweddle
Beth Tweddle
Elizabeth "Beth" Kimberly Tweddle MBE is an English gymnast. Tweddle is a three time world champion having won the 2010 World Championships and 2006 World Championshipson the uneven bars and the 2009 World Championships on the floor...
of the United Kingdom and third on floor, behind Tweddle and the 2006 World Champion, the Italian Vanessa Ferrari
Vanessa Ferrari
Vanessa Ferrari , is a World Champion Gymnast from Italy. Her mother, Galya, is Bulgarian and her father, Giovanni, is Italian....
. Semenova also qualified for the balance beam final and finished in fifth place with an uncharacteriscically shaky routine. In July she suffered a minor injury to her wrist keeping her out of the Russian Cup, but has been confirmed to the Russian team for world championships in October along with Yekaterina Kurbatova, Anna Myzdrikova
Anna Myzdrikova
Anna Andreevna Myzdrikova is a Russian artistic gymnast .- Career :She competed at the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where she qualified into the Floor and Vault event finals, 1st on floor exercise and 3rd on vault, however she failed to reach medals in finals, finishing 4th on...
and Ksenia Afanasyeva
Ksenia Afanasyeva
Ksenia Dmitrievna Afanasyeva is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 World Champion in the Floor Exercise, and represented Russia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 1st day of competition, Ksenia qualified in 6th for the all around, however she did not qualify because of the two per...
who eventually withdrew due to an injury. After a qualifying round marred by wobbles and a fall on her floor routine, she was 10th going into the all-around but failed to make any event finals. Another fall from the uneven bars during the first rotation prevented her from a better placement and she finished 13th overall.
Routines
As of 2009, Ksenia performs the following routines:| Apparatus | Skills | D Score |
| Vault | Yurchenko 1½ | 5.3 |
| Uneven Bars | Glide kip cast to HS (KCHS), Stalder shoot to HB (Ray); KCHS, Pike stalder (Inbar) 1½, straddled jaegar; KCHS, Inbar ½, Inbar full, Deltchev; KCHS, Pak salto, KCHS, stadler 1/2 Toe shoot to HB; Toe-on full to piked double Arabian dismount | 6.5 |
| Balance Beam | Swing to handstand mount; switch split leap; front aerial, flip-flop, pike back salto; side somi; aerial cartwheel; full turn with leg at Horizontal; sheep jump; onodi, flip-flop, layout stepout; sissone, split jump; roundoff (RO) double pike dismount | 6.0 |
| Floor Exercise | Double Layout ; 2½ twist punch layout barani; Switch ring, Split leap full; Double turn with leg in attitude (Semenova); 1½ twist punch layout front full; Double pike dismount | 5.6 |
Special skills
Semenova performs the "Tkatchev to immediate giant full" combination on the uneven bars and may be the first female gymnast to perform it (but the combination [toe-on] Tkatchev to immediate giant was already performed by former gymnasts like Elise Ray in 2000's or Roza Galieva in 1993's). This move is usually done by men on the horizontal barHorizontal bar
The high bar, also known as the horizontal bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in Artistic Gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a system of cables and stiff vertical supports. Gymnasts typically wear leather...
. She also performs a Deltchev salto on uneven bars, now an unusual skill in the women's sport and an uncommon piked double Arabian dismount.
She has a skill on floor named after her, a double spin in back attitude which carries a D rating under the 2009–2012 Code of Points
Code of Points
Code of Points may refer to:* Code of Points *Common name for the ISU Judging System, scoring system currently used to judge the figure skating...
.