Rozalia Galiyeva


Rozaliya Ilfatovna Galiyeva, also known as Roza Galieva, is a retired artistic gymnast who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Galiyeva was born on 26 April 1977 in Olmaliq, Uzbek SSR. She became a Russian citizen in 1995. With her husband Mikhail, she has one son, Nikita, and one daughter, Tatyana.

Career

1991 to 1994

Galiyeva began competing internationally for the USSR in 1991, sharing in the team gold medal at the 1991 World Championships in Indianapolis.
She competed with the Unified Team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She exceeded expectations in the preliminary competition, finishing 8th and qualifying for the individual all-around final behind teammates Svetlana Boguinskaya and Tatiana Lysenko.
However, before the all-around, coach Alexander Alexandrov pulled Galiyeva from the competition, citing a knee injury. Her replacement was teammate Tatiana Gutsu. Although Gutsu had fallen from the balance beam in the team finals, she was renowned for her extreme difficulty and the reigning European all-around champion and a Worlds medalist on bars and beam. It was later revealed that Galiyeva's injury was non-existent, and that the substitution was made because Gutsu was considered to have better medal-winning potential. Indeed, Gutsu emerged from the Olympic all-around as the gold medalist. While Gutsu split her prize money with Galiyeva, Galiyeva always remained angry about this turn of events.
After the 1992 Olympics, Galiyeva competed for Uzbekistan.

For Russia

After receiving Russian citizenship in 1995, Galiyeva began competing for the Russian team. Her first major meet for Russia was the European Championships in 1996 where she won gold on balance beam, beating such renowned gymnasts as Gina Gogean and former teammate Svetlana Boguinskaya, who was now competing for Belarus.
As the only returning Olympian, Galiyeva was named team captain of the Russian squad at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. However, these Olympics would also prove to be less than positive for her. The Russian squad was disappointed in the team finals, where they finished second to the U.S. after leading for the first half of the competition. Galiyeva, along with other gymnasts such as Lavinia Miloșovici, Simona Amanar and Svetlana Khorkina, were distracted by the rowdy American crowd. In the team finals, Galiyeva competed on floor exercise just after Kerri Strug's vault that won the gold for the USA; the cheering crowd watched Galiyeva with more attention than they had her teammates, but the spotlight was elsewhere. The situation was repeated two days later in the all-around finals, when Galiyeva was performing, again on floor exercise, while American favorite Shannon Miller was on balance beam, and Galiyeva could not properly hear her music over the deafening crowd noise when Miller's impressive routine ended, and again when the score was flashed.
Individually, Galiyeva finished in the top 10 in the all-around competition, fulfilling her goal to compete, but again she was disappointed. A balance beam medal seemed easily in her reach in event finals. However, although she started confidently and at first looked to be a contender for the gold, she fell on a front somersault near the end of her routine and finished in 7th place on that event. She had also earned a slot in the event finals for vault, but finished just shy of a medal there, in 4th.
After Atlanta, Galiyeva participated in exhibition tours and competitions in the United States. Her last major competition was the World University Games in 1997.

Post-competitive career

After retiring from competition, Galiyeva performed in an ice skating show, Moscow Circus on Ice, and judged gymnastics competitions in Russia.

Competitive history

YearCompetition descriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaTeam2388.404
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaAll-around738.905877.723
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaVault49.743519.512
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaUneven bars1219.512
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaBalance beam79.112519.462
1996Olympic GamesAtlantaFloor exercise2919.237
1996World ChampionshipsSan JuanVault 119.506
1996World ChampionshipsSan JuanVault 19.687
1996World ChampionshipsSan JuanBalance beam 109.462
1996World ChampionshipsSan JuanBalance beam 89.762
1996World ChampionshipsSan JuanFloor exercise89.637
1996World ChampionshipsSan JuanFloor exercise 49.762
1996World ChampionshipsSan JuanFloor exercise 69.725
1996European ChampionshipsBirminghamTeam2115.659
1996European ChampionshipsBirminghamAll-around1038.261
1996European ChampionshipsBirminghamVault559.150
1996European ChampionshipsBirminghamUneven bars99.712
1996European ChampionshipsBirminghamBalance beam19.72539.687
1996European ChampionshipsBirminghamFloor exercise59.76259.712

YearCompetition descriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamAll-around638.5861837.798
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamVault329.534
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamUneven bars159.487
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamBalance beam329.212
1993World ChampionshipsBirminghamFloor exercise159.475

YearCompetition descriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaTeam1395.666
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaAll-aroundWD878.885
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaVault2019.699
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaUneven bars1419.750
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaBalance beam1119.662
1992Olympic GamesBarcelonaFloor exercise1019.774
1992World ChampionshipsParisUneven bars WD
1992World ChampionshipsParisUneven bars 29.912
1992World ChampionshipsParisBalance beam WD
1992World ChampionshipsParisBalance beam 39.850
1992World ChampionshipsParisFloor exercise WD
1992World ChampionshipsParisFloor exercise 49.887

YearCompetition descriptionLocationApparatusRank-FinalScore-FinalRank-QualifyingScore-Qualifying
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisTeam1396.055
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisAll-around978.949
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisVault1019.737
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisUneven bars619.800
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisBalance beam1119.650
1991World ChampionshipsIndianapolisFloor exercise919.762

Major results