Angelina Melnikova

Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova has built one of the most decorated careers in the sport's modern era. Born in Voronezh on 18 July 2000, she began competing internationally as a junior, winning gold at the 2014 European Championships in the team, all-around, and balance beam events, and taking the Russian junior all-around title that same year. She has been captain of the Russian women's national gymnastics team since 2017.

Melnikova's senior career is marked by consistency and longevity. She represented Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where the team took silver, and led the Russian Olympic Committee to gold in the team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Individually, she owns two Olympic medals, five World medals, nine European Championships medals, four European Games medals, and two Russian national all-around titles (2016 and 2018). Her 2021 World all-around title made her the first non-American to win a World or Olympic all-around title in over a decade.

At 25 years old, Melnikova stands 4'11" with an athletic build, blonde hair, and green eyes. She has been active since 2013, amassing 11 Olympic and World medals, which ranks her as the joint third-most decorated Russian gymnast of all time. Her Instagram following has grown to 251k, where fans can see glimpses of her training and competition life. She remains a prominent figure in artistic gymnastics.