Elizabeth Popova

ABOUT

Born: 30 November, 2006 in Carmarthen
Lives: Widnes
School: Wade Deacon High School

GYMNASTICS BACKGROUND

First Started: Aged 4 at Llanelli RGA
Current Club: Llanelli RGA

Highlights. . . In April 2022 she made her senior Great Britain debut at the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series event in Bulgaria. Welsh junior all-around champion in 2019 and 2021. In 2019 she also competed at the World Junior Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. 2023 British all-around bronze.

Birmingham 2022: Elizabeth was the youngest gymnast in the individual all-around final, where she finished in a highly respectable 12th position. She also qualified for the individual ball and clubs apparatus finals; she was seventh with ball and then finished with a fantastic performance in the clubs final to finish in fifth place – an incredible achievement for the 15-year-old at her very first Games.

DID YOU KNOW . . .
Elizabeth is coached by her mother Ioana, herself an ex-international gymnast, who is also the former national choreographer for Wales and worked with the Welsh Commonwealth Games teams in 1998 and 2002. In recent years Ioana also been a high performance rhythmic coach and national judge. Elizabeth’s father was a professional basketball player in Bulgaria and her older brother Chris, 17, is a talented footballer who, in February 2022, signed a professional contract with Premier League club Leicester City.