Dina Averina
Dina Alekseyevna Averina is a Russian former individual rhythmic gymnast. She was the 2020 Olympic All-around silver medalist, the only four-time [Rhythmic Gymnastics Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships|World Championships|World] All-around Champion, the 2018 silver and 2021 European All-around bronze medalist and the 2016 Grand Prix Final All-around silver medalist.
On a national level, she was the [Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics National Championships|2017, European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships|2018 and 2022 Russian National] All-around champion and the 2013 Russian Junior All-around bronze medalist. Her identical twin sister, Arina Averina, was also a competitive rhythmic gymnast.
Personal life
Born to parents Ksenia Averina and Alexey Averin, Dina and identical twin sister Arina started gymnastics at four years old. The girls were born on 13 August 1998. Arina was born 20 minutes ahead of Dina, while both have moles on the upper cheekbone, Dina has it on the lower right compared to Arina's upper right. Arina has a scar above her right eye, caused after an accident with a club. They have an older sister named Polina. Dina and Arina share the same instagram account.In 2020, Averina received a serious back injury, which actually needed a surgery but in order to prepare for the postponed Olympics she decided not to undergo the surgery. As a result, she was limited in her body difficulties so that it does not aggravate her injury more. She announced her retirement from competitive sport in February 2024. She underwent wrist surgery in April that year.
On 18 March 2022, Dina, as well as her sister Arina, participated in the Moscow rally in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As of 2025, she is dating Russian figure skater Dmitri Soloviev. They got married on July 7th, at a private ceremony in Moscow.
Career
Junior
The Averinas first trained under their first coach Larisa Belova until they became members of the Russian national team and began training in Olympic Training Center in Moscow where they are now coached by Vera Shatalina.The Averinas began appearing in international competitions in 2011 competing at the 2011 Russian-Chinese Youth Games where Averina won the gold and Arina finishing 5th in the all-around. In 2012, Averina finished 4th at the Russian Junior Championships. Averina and Arina both competed at the Venera Cup in Eilat, Israel where Averina won the all-around gold, she also won gold in hoop and silver medals in ball, clubs and ribbon. She then competed at International MTM Cup in Ljubljana won the Team gold medal.
In 2013 season, Averina won bronze in all-around at the 2013 Russian Junior Championships behind Soldatova, she competed in Junior division at Happy Caravan Cup in Tashkent and won Team gold with Arina Averina. At the 2013 Russian Spartakiada's 6th Summer Student Games, Averina won the all-around bronze medal.
Senior
2014
In 2014 season, Averina debuted at the 2014 Moscow Grand Prix competing in the senior international tournament division. Averina appeared in her first World Cup competition at the 2014 Lisboa World Cup where she won the all-around bronze medal behind Melitina Staniouta. In the event finals: she won silver in clubs and bronze in ribbon. On 23–27 April, Averina competed in senior nationals at the 2014 Russian Championships where she finished 6th in the all-around.2015
In 2015 season, Averina started her season at the 2015 Moscow Grand Prix, she then competed at the Corbeil-Essonnes International Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament where she won the all-around silver medal behind twin sister Arina Averina, she qualified to 4 event finals, taking gold in ribbon, silver medals in hoop, ball and placed 6th in clubs. On 7–9 August, Averina competed at the MTK Budapest taking gold in the all-around, hoop, ball, clubs and a silver in ribbon. Averina followed another gold medal win in the all-around at the 2015 Dundee International Tournament in Sofia, ahead of twin sister Arina. She won bronze medal at the 2015 Russian Championships behind Yana Kudryavtseva and Arina Averina.2016
In 2016, Averina began her season competing at the 2016 Grand Prix Moscow finishing 6th in the all-around and qualified to the hoop final. On 26–28 February, Averina competed in the first World Cup of the season at the 2016 Espoo World Cup finishing 6th in the all-around; she won bronze in ball, placed 4th in hoop, clubs and 6th in ribbon. Averina then competed in the senior division at the International tournament in Lisbon where she won the all-around gold and all apparatus finals. At the 30th Thiais Grand Prix event in Paris, Averina finished 9th in the all-around. On 1–3 April, Averina competed at the 2016 Pesaro World Cup where she finished 5th in the all-around with a total of 73.500 points, she qualified in all apparatus after teammate Yana Kudryavtseva withdrew from the event finals, Averina won silver in ball, ribbon and bronze in hoop, clubs. Averina won the all-around bronze at the 2016 Russian Championships held in Sochi. On 6–8 May, Averina competed at the Brno Grand Prix taking bronze in the all-around with a total of 72.850 points; she qualified to 3 apparatus taking silver in hoop, ribbon and placed 4th in clubs. On 13–15 May, Averina won the all-around bronze at the Bucharest Grand Prix with a total of 73.100 points, she qualified to all apparatus finals: taking silver in clubs behind Salome Pazhava, bronze in hoop, ball and 7th in ribbon. On 27–29 May, Averina finished 5th in the all-around at the 2016 Sofia World Cup with a total of 72.900 points, she qualified in hoop finals placing 4th behind sister Arina Averina. On 1–3 July, Dina competed at the 2016 Berlin World Cup where she won the All-around gold medal with a total of 74.050 points, she qualified to all apparatus taking gold in Ball, Ribbon, placed 4th in Hoop and 8th in Clubs. On 22–24 September, Averina competed at the 2016 Grand Prix Final in Eilat, Israel where she won the all-around bronze medal with a new personal best total of 74.450 points, she qualified in 2 apparatus finals taking silver medal in ball and placed 5th in clubs.2017: First World Title
In 2017, Averina's season began in competition at the 2017 Grand Prix Moscow where she won the all-around gold medal with a new personal best total score of 76.050 points, she qualified to all the apparatus finals taking gold in hoop, clubs, ribbon and a silver medal in ball behind Aleksandra Soldatova. Averina then participated in the organized Desio-Italia Trophy where she won the All-around and team gold medal. On 10–12 March, Averina became the All-around champion at the 2017 Russian Championships ahead of defending champion Aleksandra Soldatova who finished in 2nd place respectively. On 24–26 March, Averina then competed at the Thiais Grand Prix where she won the all-around gold with a total of 74.500 points, she qualified to all the event finals taking gold in hoop, ball, clubs and silver in ribbon. On 7–9 April, Averina competed in the first World Cup of the season at the 2017 Pesaro World Cup where she won silver in the all-around behind teammate Aleksandra Soldatova, she qualified to all the apparatus finals winning 3 gold medals in ball, clubs, ribbon and a silver in hoop. Her next event was at the 2017 Tashkent World Cup where Averina won gold in the all-around ahead of sister Arina Averina, she qualified to all the apparatus finals taking gold in clubs, and 3 silver medals in ball, hoop and ribbon. On 19–21 May, at the 2017 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Averina was member of the Golden winning Russian Team scoring a total of 182.175 points which was more than 11 points ahead of their nearest competitor team Belarus. Averina qualified to 3 apparatus finals taking 2 gold medals in hoop, ribbon and a silver medal in clubs behind Arina Averina. On 23–26 June, Averina then competed at the 2017 Holon Grand Prix taking silver in the all-around behind Arina, she qualified 3 apparatus finals winning gold in ball, silver in clubs and placed 6th in hoop. At the quadrennial 2017 World Games which was held in Wrocław, Poland from 20 to 30 July, Averina won the gold medal in clubs and three silver medals in hoop, ball, ribbon. On 11–13 August, Averina competed at the 2017 Kazan World Challenge Cup and won the all-around gold medal edging out sister Arina who won the silver medal, Averina qualified in all the apparatus finals and won 2 gold medals in hoop, clubs, a silver in ribbon and finished 8th in ball. At the 2017 World Championships held on 30 August – 3 September in Pesaro, Italy, in the first day of the apparatus finals; Averina won Gold in Hoop and Silver in Ball. The following day, she won another Gold in Clubs and Silver in Ribbon. During the individual all-around finals, she accumulated scores in scoring a total of 74.700 points to become the new All-around Champion edging out twin sister Arina Averina who took the silver medal respectively.2018: Second AA World title
In 2018, Averina's season began in competition at the 2018 Grand Prix Moscow, where she won the all-around gold, she qualified to 3 apparatus finals taking gold with hoop, clubs and silver with ball. On 24–25 March, Averina took gold in the all-around at the 2018 Thiais Grand Prix; she qualified in 3 apparatus finals where she won gold in ball, ribbon and silver in clubs. On 13–15 April, Averina then competed at the 2018 Pesaro World Cup, winning gold in the all-around; in the event finals, she won gold in ball and clubs, a silver in hoop and placed 4th in ribbon. She competed at the 2018 Sofia World Championships, winning Gold in the All-Around, Hoop, Ball and Clubs.2019
Averina won gold in team, hoop and ribbon at the 2019 European Championships. She also competed at the 2019 European Games, winning gold in all-around, hoop and ribbon, silver in clubs and bronze in ball. At the 2019 World Championships in Baku, she won the All-Around Gold for the third year in a row, as well as gold in the ball, clubs and ribbon final and bronze in the hoop final. She also won Team Gold, together with Ekaterina Selezneva and her sister Arina Averina.2021: Controversial Silver at Tokyo Olympics
Averina started the season at the Moscow Grand Prix, where she won gold ahead of her silver and bronze compatriots Arina Averina and Lala Kramarenko. In the finals of apparatus, she won gold in ball and ribbon, silver in hoop and bronze in clubs. At the Tashkent World Cup, she also won gold ahead of Arina Averina and Anastasiia Salos, and gold on hoop, silver on ball and clubs, and bronze on ribbon in the finals. In the Pesaro World Cup, she also achieved full gold ahead of Arina Averina and Alina Harnasko, and in the finals, she achieved gold in hoop, silver in ball and ribbon, and bronze in clubs. From 9–13 June, she competed in the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, in Varna, Bulgaria, achieving bronze in the all around final, behind Boryana Kaleyn, and in the apparatus finals she achieved gold in hoop, ball and ribbon, and silver in clubs. She, along with Lala Kramarenko, Arina Averina, and the Russian group, they achieved first place. At the Moscow Challenge World Cup, the last competition prior to the Olympic Games, she achieved all around gold ahead of Lala Kramarenko and Ekaterina Vedeneeva, and took gold in all apparatus finals. Her sister Arina, was removed from the competition list the day before, and was replaced by Kramarenko.At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Averina was the top qualifier, ahead of her sister Arina Averina who was second. In the all around final, Averina lost to Linoy Ashram from Israel and finished second with a silver medal, with a total score of 107.650. Thus, Russia finished for the first time without a gold medal in the sport since 1996. The results of the competition were controversial, mainly because Ashram had a drop in her ribbon routine. The ROC and the head coach of the Russian team, Irina Viner accused the judges of bias towards Linoy Ashram and called the results an "injustice". They also requested several inquiries during the final. However, many argued that Ashrams difficulty was higher than Averinas, which allowed her to win the Gold despite the drop in her ribbon routine.
The Russian Olympic Committee officially launched a complaint to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) over the all-around rhythmic result at Tokyo 2020, with a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman calling the outcome a "forgery". The FIG responded to this, stating that "Following this process, we can confirm that no bias or irregularities were identified in the judging panels." and that "The FIG has set up strict criteria for objective selection of the most qualified and unbiased judges for the Olympic Games and we are pleased by their work." Ashram was the first non-Russian gymnast to win the gold since Ukraine's Ekaterina Serebrianskaya at Atlanta 1996.
After the Olympic Games
Later, the Averina twins returned to competition after the Olympic Games with their new coach Yulia Barsukova, at the international Olympico Cup tournament in Moscow, where Averina launched a new club routine, and her sister a new club and ribbon routine. Averina was champion ahead of Arina Averina and Elzhana Taniyeva. Averina competed in the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, where in the apparatus finals she won gold in hoop, ball and clubs, and in ribbon she won silver, surpassed by Alina Harnasko. In the all-around final, Averina again took the all-around gold and the title of World Champion for the fourth time in a row, becoming the gymnast with the most world titles. She also achieved team gold with Arina Averina and the Russian Group. She and her sister kept competing until 2023.2024 Retirement from the Sport
On February 23, 2024, Averina announced her retirement from sports.Gymnastics technique
Averina is known for her fast routines and dynamic apparatus handling. She has maintained a Difficulty value of 10 which was scored in her clubs routine; the last rhythmic gymnast before Averina to score a 10 in Difficulty was Evgenia Kanaeva.Routine music information
| Year | Apparatus | Music title |
| 2023 | Hoop | "Butterflies and Hurricanes" by Muse |
| 2023 | Ball | "Toxic" by 2WEI |
| 2023 | Clubs | "Bolero" |
| 2023 | Ribbon | |
| 2022 | Hoop | "How You Like That" by Blackpink |
| 2022 | Ball | "So Far" by Ólafur Arnalds feat. Arnór Dan Arnarson |
| 2022 | Ball | A Life for the Tsar: Final Chorus "Slav'sya" as composed by Mikhail Glinka, conducted by Peter Feranec |
| 2022 | Ball | "lovely" by Billie Eilish, Khalid |
| 2022 | Clubs | "Ritmo de Bom Bom/Samba Vocalizado" by Jubaba/Luciano Perrone |
| 2022 | Ribbon | String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor Op. 110: II. Allegro Molto as composed by Dmitri Shostakovich |
| 2021 | Hoop | "Thunderstruck" by David Garrett |
| 2021 | Ball | "Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky |
| 2021 | Clubs | "FOGO" by Garmiani feat. Julimar Santos |
| 2021 | Clubs | "Call Me Mother" by RuPaul |
| 2021 | Ribbon | "La Cumparsita" by Yasmin Levy |
| 2021 | Gala | "you should see me in a crown" by Billie Eilish |
| 2020 | Hoop | Fantasie Brillante sur Gounod's "Faust", Op. 20 by Henryk Wieniawski |
| 2020 | Hoop | "Thunderstruck" by David Garrett |
| 2020 | Ball | "L'Adoration De La Terre", "Le Sacrifice" from The Rite of Spring as composed by Igor Stravinsky |
| 2020 | Ball | Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 as composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
| 2020 | Clubs | "Chiquito" by Los Chiquitos |
| 2020 | Clubs | "Двигаться", "Kick It ", "Breaking it Down" by Raim, Village Girls, Rockin' Nation |
| 2020 | Clubs | "FOGO" by Garmiani feat. Julimar Santos |
| 2020 | Ribbon | "La Cumparsita" by Yasmin Levy |
| 2020 | Gala | "Time, Forward!" by Alexander Vedernikov & Russian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, composed by Georgy Sviridov |
| 2020 | Gala | "Lash Out" by Alice Merton |
| 2019 | Hoop | Piano Concerto No.1 in B Flat Minor: 3rd Movement by Maksim Mvrica |
| 2019 | Ball | Polovetsian Dances by Alexander Borodin |
| 2019 | Clubs | Baladi Asena, Vostochnie Skazki by Asena, Arash |
| 2019 | Ribbon | Un Vie D'amour by Charles Aznavour & Mireille Mathieu |
| 2019 | Gala | "Lash Out" by Alice Merton |
| 2019 | Gala | "Call Me Mother" by RuPaul |
| 2018 | Hoop | "Spartacus", composed by Aram Khachaturian by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov |
| 2018 | Ball | "Petrushka - The Shrovetide Fair", composed by Igor Stravinsky by Philharmonia Slavonica & Hanspeter Gmür |
| 2018 | Clubs | "Hey! Pachuco!" from The Mask (film) by Royal Crown Revue |
| 2018 | Ribbon | "Concerto No. 1 in G for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 49: I. Allegro" by Yo-Yo Ma, Dmitri Kabalevsky & Dmitry Shostakovich |
| 2018 | Ribbon | "Kalinka" by Nikolay Baskov |
| 2018 | Gala | "Call Me Mother" by RuPaul |
| 2017 | Hoop | "Swan Lake (Act IV Allegro)" by Smolensk Symphonic Orchestra |
| 2017 | Ball | "Volare", from Circus album by DJ BoBo |
| 2017 | Clubs | "Unharness The Horses, Lads " by Kuban Cossack Choir |
| 2017 | Ribbon | "Dance of the Basques" from Flames of Paris by Boris Asafyev |
| 2017 | Gala | "Me Too" by Meghan Trainor |
| 2017 | Gala | "The Firebird" by Igor Stravinsky |
| 2016 | Hoop | "One Thousand and One Nights" from Scheherazade |
| 2016 | Ball | "Zima" by Eduard Khil |
| 2016 | Clubs | "Caravan" by Antonella Ruggiero |
| 2016 | Ribbon | "Tsigany" by Moiseyev Dance Ensemble |
| 2015 | Hoop | "Giselle, Act I: No. 8, Waltz" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky |
| 2015 | Ball | "Zima" by Eduard Khil |
| 2015 | Clubs | "Kalinka" by André Rieu |
| 2015 | Ribbon | "Tsigany" by Moiseyev Dance Ensemble |
| 2014 | Hoop | "Song about Bears " by Alsou |
| 2014 | Ball | "Jamaica" by Vitas |
| 2014 | Clubs | "Ciocârlia (Romanian folk tune)" by George Enescu |
| 2014 | Ribbon | "Sabre Dance" by Aram Khachaturian |