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Irina Alexeeva

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Irina Alexeeva
Ири́на Алексе́ева
Full nameIrina Nikolayevna Alexeeva[1]
Nickname(s)Ira
Born (2002-04-20) 20 April 2002 (age 22)
Moscow, Russia
HometownPlano, Texas, USA
ResidenceStanford, California, USA
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented Russia
Years on national team2018–19 (RUS)
College teamStanford Cardinal
(2020–24)
LevelSenior International Elite
ClubWOGA
Medal record
Representing  Russia
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Doha Team
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Glasgow Team

Irina Nikolayevna Alexeeva or Alekseeva (Russian: Ири́на Никола́евна Алексе́ева, born 20 April 2002) is a Russian artistic gymnast and a former member of the Russian National Team. She was part of the teams that won the gold medal at the 2018 European Championships and the silver medal at the 2018 World Championships.

Early life

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Alexeeva was born in Moscow, Russia, and began her gymnastics there training under Dina Kamalova, the same coach as eventual Olympic champion Aliya Mustafina. She has an elder brother, Andrey. In 2010, Alexeeva moved to the United States when she was 7 following Kamalova's departure, and resumed training under her at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, the same gym where Olympic champions Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin trained and where eventual Olympic champion Madison Kocian was currently training.[2]

Gymnastics career

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2016–2017

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Alexeeva qualified as a junior elite gymnast in 2016, making her elite debut at the American Classic that May. She finished third in the all-around and on uneven bars, winning one gold on balance beam. In June, she competed at the U.S. Classic, placing first in both the junior all-around competition and the balance beam. However, she was ineligible to compete at the 2016 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis, Missouri as she was not an American citizen.[3]

Alexeeva spent the 2017 season recovering from an injury.[2]

2018

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In her first year as a Senior gymnast, Alexeeva competed at International Gymnix in Canada, where she won the bronze medal in the All-Around and the gold medal on floor exercise and uneven bars.[4] After being unable to obtain American citizenship, Alexeeva competed at the Russian National Championships in April in hopes of making the Russian National Team. There she placed 7th in the All-Around after falling off the balance beam. She also placed second on uneven bars, behind Angelina Melnikova and ahead of 2011 and 2015 World Champion Viktoria Komova, and third on floor exercise, behind Melnikova and Angelina Simakova.[5] In May, Alexeeva was officially added to the Russian National Team, replacing Natalia Kapitonova. She later returned to Moscow and began training at Round Lake.[6]

In June, she received her FIG license, enabling her to officially represent Russia in international competitions. Later that month, Alexeeva was slated to compete at the Russian Cup but had to pull out due to a knee injury.[7]

On 20 July, Alexeeva was named to the Russian team to compete at the 2018 European Championships alongside Melnikova, Simakova, Lilia Akhaimova, and Uliana Perebinosova.[8] Alexeeva only competed on uneven bars and balance beam in the qualification. She scored high enough to qualify to the Uneven Bars Finals but did not qualify due to her teammates Melnikova and Perebinosova scoring higher. She once again competed on uneven bars and balance beam in the Team Finals where Russia won the gold medal.[9]

On 29 September, Alexeeva was named on the nominative team roster to compete at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar alongside Akhaimova, Melnikova, Aliya Mustafina, and Simakova.[10] On 17 October, the World team was officially announced and was unchanged from the nominative team.[11] During qualifications Alexeeva competed on all four events. She qualified to the All-Around in 12th and Russia qualified to the Team Final in second place.[12][13] During the team final Alexeeva competed on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam, helping Russia win the silver medal.[14] In the All-Around Final she finished 13th.[15]

2019

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Despite being named to the national team for 2019,[16] Valentina Rodionenko confirmed that Alexeeva had left the national team in order to focus on NCAA gymnastics in the United States.[17] While Alexeeva had not announced any commitments, she had an official visit to Stanford University the previous fall, sparking rumors that she'd join their gymnastics team.[18]

On September 20, Alexeeva announced on Instagram that she will be attending Stanford University and competing on their gymnastics team, starting in the 2020–2021 school year.[19] She will be the first Russian national WAG team member to compete in NCAA gymnastics.[20] In November she signed her National Letter of Intent with the Stanford Cardinal gymnastics team.[21]

Collegiate gymnastics career

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2020–2021 season

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Alexeeva redshirted the season due to having 90 bone chips removed from her hip.[22]

2021–2022 season

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Alexeeva made her collegiate debut in 2022. She competed in four meets before stopping to focus on her continued recovery.[22]

2022–2023 season

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Alexeeva returned to competition on January 6, 2023 at the Super 16 Invitational where she only competed on uneven bars. The following week she competed in a dual meet against San Jose where she made her collegiate debut on balance beam. She earned scores of 9.875 (uneven bars) and 9.85 (balance beam) towards Stanford's victory. She was named Pac-12 Coaches Choice of the Week.[22]

Competitive history

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Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2016 WOGA Classic 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
International Gymnix 6 1st place, gold medalist(s)
American Classic 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 1st place, gold medalist(s) 16 4 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Élite Gym Massilia 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Senior
2018 WOGA Classic 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 8 1st place, gold medalist(s)
International Gymnix 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
National Championships 7 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
European Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 13

International Scores

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Year Competition Description Location Apparatus Rank-Final Score-Final Rank-Qualifying Score-Qualifying
2018 European Championships Glasgow Team 1 165.195 2 161.462
Uneven Bars 7 13.933
Balance Beam 29 12.333
World Championships Doha Team 2 162.863 2 165.497
All-Around 13 53.798 12 53.532
Uneven Bars 20 13.833
Balance Beam 23 13.133
Floor Exercise 27 13.066

References

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  1. ^ "Список (изменения) — Кандидатов в спортивные спорные команды Российской Федерации по спортивной гимнастике на 2018 год" (PDF) (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Sport. 4 May 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Irina Alexeeva will compete at Russian Championships". Gymnovosti. 9 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Alexeeva wins junior title at Secret Classic". USA Gymnastics. 4 June 2016. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  4. ^ "2018 International Gymnix Results". The Gymnter.net. 11 March 2018.
  5. ^ "2018 Russian Championships Results". The Gymnter.net. 21 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Irina Alexeeva replaced Natalia Kapitonova on the Russian National Team Roster". Gymnovosti. 26 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Irina Alexeeva will Miss Russian Cup Due to a Knee Injury". Gymnovosti. 26 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Viktoria Komova won't be on the Russian team for Euros". Gymnovosti. 20 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Gymnastics: Melnikova inspires Russia's European team triumph". Reuters. 4 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Мустафина и Белявский вошли в заявку сборной России на ЧМ по спортивной гимнастике в Дохе". TASS (in Russian). 28 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Russian Teams for Worlds Announced". Gymnovosti. 17 October 2018.
  12. ^ "USA, Biles Dominate Women's Worlds Qualifications". FloGymnastics. 28 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Mother Russian: New mom Mustafina leads Russia at worlds". The Washington Post. 28 October 2018. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018.
  14. ^ "U.S. women win sixth world team title". International Gymnastics Federation. 30 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Алексеева: ощущения от первого чемпионата мира незабываемые". rsport (in Russian). 1 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Russian National Team For The 2019 Season Was Announced". Gymnovosti. 29 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Гимнастка, выигравшая ЧЕ, больше не выступит за Россию из-за учебы в США". R-Sport (in Russian). 7 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Irina Alexeeva Left The Russian National Team". Gymnovosti. 8 March 2019.
  19. ^ "So happy to announce that I will be attending Stanford University and competing on the gymnastics team as a part of the 2020 class!". Instagram. 20 September 2019.
  20. ^ "Irina Alexeeva Committed to Stanford". Gymnovosti. 21 September 2019.
  21. ^ @StanfordWGym (13 November 2019). "Please join us in welcoming Ira to The Farm!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ a b c "Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Weekly Awards - Jan. 17, 2023". Pac-12 Conference. 17 January 2023. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023.
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