Thomas Bach awards Silver Olympic Order to Irina Viner-Usmanova

Irina Viner-Usmanova, President of the Russian Rhythmic GymnasticsFederation and head coach of Russia has been awarded the Silver OlympicOrder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by Thomas Bach,President of the IOC, in recognition of her outstanding achievements in globalsport and dedication to the Olympic values. The ceremony took place as part ofa visit to Moscow by Thomas Bach, and also at the ceremony was AlexanderZhukov, President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Olympic Ordersare awarded by the IOC for services to the Olympic movement and previousrecipients include Sebastian Coe, Steffi Graf, Jesse Owens and NadiaComăneci, as well as Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela and Indira Gandhi.

Irina Viner-Usmanova has trained numerous famous gymnasts, includingEvgenia Kanaeva, the first woman in history to win the Olympic gold medaltwice in the individual all-around competition. She has also coached Olympicchampions Alina Kabaeva and Yulia Barsukova, silver medal winners DariaDmitrieva, Irina Tchachina and Yana Batyrshina, and many others.

Irina Viner-Usmanova’s pupils have won eight Olympic gold medals, threesilvers and two bronzes. Since 2000, Russia’s rhythmic gymnasts have wonOlympic gold in the individual and group all-around competitions on every

occasion.

Ms. Viner-Usmanova has headed the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federationsince 2008. In 2013, she defended her PhD thesis on "Integrated Coaching inRhythmic Gymnastics".

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