Alina Maratovna Kabayeva

Irina Viner
She stayed with Viner and made her international debut in 1996. In 1998 the 15-year-old Kabayeva won the European Championships in Portugal, where her victory was considered by many to be completely "out of the blue." At the time she was the youngest member of the Russian squad, competing alongside internationally recognized teammates, like Amina Zaripova. In 1999 Kabaeva became European Champion for the second consecutive time and won the World title in Osaka, Japan. She went on to win a total of 5 all-around titles at the European Championships and added another World title in 2003 in Budapest, Hungary.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Kabayeva was expected to claim gold in all-around, but, due to an error in an otherwise exceptional performance—she dropped her hoop and ran to retrieve it outside the competition area - took home the bronze with the final score of 39.466 (Rope 9.925, Hoop 9.641, Ball 9.950, Ribbon 9.950).
At the 2001 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, she won the gold for the ball, clubs and rope, and silver in the Individual All-Around and hoop. However, Kabayeva and her teammate Irina Tchachina tested positive to a banned diuretic (furosemide) and were stripped of their medals.