Rozalia Galiyeva
Encyclopedia
Rozaliya Ilfovna Galiyeva or Roza Galieva (born April 28, 1977 in Olmaliq
Olmaliq
Olmaliq also spelled as Almalyk is a city in the Tashkent Province of central Uzbekistan, approximately 65 km east of Tashkent...

, Uzbek SSR
Uzbek SSR
The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924...

, USSR) is a gymnast
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...

 who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

 and 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

.

Galiyeva was born on April 26, 1977 in Olmaliq
Olmaliq
Olmaliq also spelled as Almalyk is a city in the Tashkent Province of central Uzbekistan, approximately 65 km east of Tashkent...

, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

. She began competing internationally for the USSR in 1991, sharing in the team gold medal at the 1991 World Championships
1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 26th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Indianapolis, USA, in the Hoosier Dome, September 6 to 15, 1991.-Medals:-All-round:-Apparatus:-All-round:-Apparatus:-References:**...

 in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

. A solid gymnast but never a star, Galiyeva was a strong support to the Soviet team.

Galiyeva competed with the Unified Team
Unified Team
The Unified Team was the name used for the sports team of the former Soviet Union at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The IOC country code was EUN, after the French name, Équipe Unifiée...

 at the 1992 Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

 in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. She exceeded expectations in the preliminary competition, finishing 8th and qualifying for the individual all-around final behind teammates Svetlana Boguinskaya and Tatiana Lysenko
Tatiana Lysenko
Tatiana Felixivna Lysenko is a Soviet and Ukrainian gymnast, who had her senior competitive career from 1990 to 1994.She is Jewish. Tatiana was known for her exceptional difficulty level and haughty style on the floor...

.

However, before the all-around, coach Alexander Alexandrov
Alexander Alexandrov
Alexander Alexandrov may refer to:*Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov , Russian mathematician and physicist*Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov , Russian cosmonaut...

 pulled Galiyeva from the competition, citing a knee injury. Her replacement was teammate Tatiana Gutsu
Tatiana Gutsu
Tatiana Konstantinivna Gutsu is a Ukrainian gymnast, winner of the 1992 Olympic all-around title. Renowned as a trickster, the routines she competed were some of the most difficult ever in the sport...

. Although Gutsu had fallen from the balance beam in the team finals, she was renowned for her extreme difficulty and the reigning European all-around champion and a Worlds medalist on beam, vault and bars. It was later revealed that Galiyeva's injury was nonexistent, and that the substitution was made because Gutsu was considered to have better medal-winning potential. Indeed, Gutsu emerged from the Olympic all-around as the gold medalist. While Gutsu split her prize money with Galiyeva, Galiyeva always remained angry about this turn of events.

After the 1992 Olympics, Galiyeva continued competing for Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

. She successfully applied for Russian citizenship in 1995 and began competing for the Russian team. Her first major meet for Russia was the European Championships in 1996 where she won gold on balance beam, beating such renowned gymnasts as Gina Gogean
Gina Gogean
Gina Gogean is a retired gymnast from Romania who competed internationally in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. During her career she won an impressive number of 30 medals at Olympic Games, world championships or continental championships...

 and former teammate Svetlana Boguinskaya, who was now competing for Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

.

As the only returning Olympian, Galiyeva was named team captain of the Russian squad at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. However, these Olympics would also prove to be less than positive for her. The Russian squad was bitterly disappointed in the team finals, where they finished second to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 after leading for the first half of the competition. Galiyeva, along with other gymnasts such as Lavinia Miloşovici
Lavinia Milosovici
Lavinia Corina Miloşovici is a Romanian Olympic gymnast. An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit, Miloşovici, also known as "Milo" in the gymnastics community, is considered to be one of Romania's top gymnasts of the 1990s and one of the most prolific female...

, Simona Amanar
Simona Amânar
Simona Amânar is a Romanian gymnast. She is a seven-time Olympic medalist and a ten-time world medalist. Amânar helped Romania to win four consecutive world team titles as well as the 2000 Olympic team title. She has a vault named after her, the Amanar...

 and 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...

, were severely distracted by the rowdy crowd. In the team finals, Galiyeva found herself in the unenviable position of competing on Floor Exercise just after Kerri Strug's amazing vault that cinched the Gold for the USA; the cheering crowd watched Galiyeva with more attention than they had her teammates, but the spotlight was very firmly elsewhere. The situation was repeated two days later in the All-Around finals, when Galiyeva was performing, again on Floor Exercise, while American favorite Shannon Miller
Shannon Miller
Shannon Lee Miller is a former artistic gymnast from Edmond, Oklahoma. She is the most decorated gymnast in U.S. History, and considered one of the greatest gymnasts the United States has ever produced...

 was on Balance Beam, and Roza could not properly hear her music over the deafening crowd noise when Miller's impressive routine ended, and again when the score was flashed.

Individually, Galiyeva finished in the top 10 (7th) in the All-Around competition, fulfilling her goal to compete, but again she was disappointed. A Balance Beam medal seemed easily in her reach in event Finals (Roza's team optionals and all-around Beam scores would have been enough to tie her for first and second respectively). However, although she started confidently and at first looked to be a contender for the Gold, she fell on a front somersault near the end of her routine and finished a heartbreaking 7th place on that event. She had also earned a slot in the Event Finals for Vault, but finished just shy of a medal there, in 4th.

After Atlanta, Galiyeva participated in exhibition tours and competitions in the United States. Her last major competition was the World University Games in 1997. After retiring, she performed in an ice skating show, Moscow Circus on Ice, and judged gymnastics competitions in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. She is now married and, with husband Mischa, has one son, Nikita, and one daughter, Tatyana.

Major results

  • 1997 World University Games
    1997 Summer Universiade
    The 1997 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIX Summer Universiade, took place in Sicily, Italy.-Medal table:...

    : 1st team; 2nd BB
  • 1996 Olympic Games: 2nd team; 7th AA; 4th VT; 7th BB
  • 1996 World Championships: 6th FX
  • 1996 European Championships: 1st BB; 2nd team; 5th VT
  • 1995 Olympic Test Event: 1st FX; 2nd AA; 2nd UB; 6th VT
  • 1993 World Championships: 6th AA
  • 1992 Olympic Games: 1st team
  • 1992 World Championships: 2nd UB; 3rd BB; 4th FX (all prelims)
  • 1992 Moscow World Stars: 1st BB; 2nd FX; 4th AA
  • 1991 World Championships: 1st team
  • 1991 Moscow World Stars: 5th AA; 8th UB
  • 1991 USSR Nationals: 4th AA

External links

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