Three-time Asian champion Elzhana Taniyeva announces retirement from gymnastics

2024 Summer Olympics participant Elzhana Taniyeva, 19yo, has announced her official retirement from the sport, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.

Today, I am saying goodbye to my professional career in rhythmic gymnastics! This sport became something more for me– it has become a part of my life. I will forever remember the day I first stepped into the gym as a little four-year-old girl, full of dreams. I was just a child then, but my heart already carried the spark of a great aspiration to perform, to chase the Olympic dream. Elzhana wrote in the Instagram post.

The Kazakhstani athlete expressed gratitude to her coaches, parents and fans for supporting her during her sporting career.

As I close this chapter, I am not saying goodbye to the sport forever. I step away with gratitude and love for everything this path has given me, and with faith that the future holds an equally exciting journey ahead, she added.

Throughout her gymnastics career, Elzhana had been crowned an Asian champion for three times as well as won six silver and three bronze medals at world championships. The two-time Asian Games runner-up, Elzhana, finished 13th at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Earlier it was reported that Kazakh judoka Yeldos Smetov had been shortlisted for the IJF Judo Awards.