Vlada Nikolchenko

Vlada Ihorivna Nikolchenko (Ukrainian: Влада Ігорівна Нікольченко; born 9 December 2002) is a Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2019 Worlds clubs bronze medalist, the double (2018-2019) clubs World Cup Series winner and the Grand Prix Final 2018 Winner. In her first world championships, Nikolchenko finished fourth in the all-around. She won several medals at European Championships and European Games.

Junior

Before doing Rhythmic Gymnastics, Vlada did Aesthtic Group Gymnastics (AGG). In 2017, Vlada Nikolchenko was part of the junior Ukrainian Group at the 2017 European Championships, where they finished at the 8th place in 10 clubs final. She also participated as an Individual at the International Tournament in Eilat, Israel.

Senior

She began her 2018 senior season at the LA Lights International Tournament in Los Angeles. Then she competed at the Miss Valentine Tournament in Tartu, Estonia. She won the all around, hoop, ball, and clubs final. She finished 4th in ribbon. She also participated at the Baltic Hoop Tournament, where she won the all-around and clubs final, she also won bronze with hoop. She finished 7th in ribbon and 8th in ball final. She made her Grand Prix debut in Kiev, where she finished 10th in the AA final. She finished in 5th place in clubs final, and 8th in ball and ribbon final. Next she went to the 2018 Grand Prix Thiais, she placed 9th in the all-around final. She won a surprising gold medal in hoop ahead of Russians Arina Averina and Ekaterina Selezneva and placed 7th in clubs final. She went to the first time at the 2018 Sofia World Cup : she finished 7th in the AA final. She qualified to the clubs and ribbon final : she won her first World Cup medal, a silver with clubs! She finished 8th in ribbon. Then she participated at the 2018 Pesaro World Cup, and she finished at the 13th place in AA final. She won then the silver medal with clubs and finished 8th in ball final. She also went to 2018 Tashkent World Cup : she placed 10th in AA, 5th in ribbon and 8th in clubs final. Then, she take part at the 2018 Baku World Cup where she won the silver in the All Around; she won the gold with clubs, a bronze with ribbon, 5th in hoop and 6th in ball. She was the Winner of Clubs - World Cup Series.

She made her World Cup Challenge debut at the 2018 Guadalajara World Challenge Cup, then she finished in the 5th place in the All Around, an 4th in hoop and ribbon final. Next to this competition, she participated at the 2018 Holon Grand Prix ; she placed 5th in the all around and won silver with hoop and clubs. The next competition is the 2018 European Championships : she finished at the 11th place. After a summer break, Vlada came back to competition at the 2018 Minsk World Challenge Cup, where she placed 5th in the All Around. She qualified to three finals ; she won bronze with hoop, finished 4th in ribbon and 6th in ball. Her next competition was the 2018 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships : she placed 5th in clubs final, 7th in ribbon and 8th final. Her team finished at the 5th place of the team competition. Then, she finished at the 4th place of the AA final - such an achievement for this young Ukrainian gymnast of 15 years old. She finished her season at the 2018 Grand Prix Final in Marbella, where she won the all around gold. She won gold with clubs and ribbon final, then a silver with ball. She participated at some Ukrainian competitions.

She started her 2019 season at the LA Lights ; she finished 2nd in All Around behind Alina Harnasko. Then she went to the Grand Prix in Marbella ; she finished 4th in All Around, won bronze with hoop, 6th in ribbon 7th in clubs, 8th in ball final. She also participated at the Grand Prix Kiev, and she won a gold medal in All Around! She also won gold with hoop, a silver with ball and a bronze with ribbon. Her next competition was the Thiais Grand Prix; she placed 7th in All Around, then she won bronze with hoop, 5th in clubs and 8th in ball final. Her first World Cup of the year was the 2019 Sofia World Cup. She placed 5th in All Around, and she qualified in the clubs and ribbon final : she finished at the 6th place in clubs and 8th with ribbon—she got a knot during her whole routine, that's why she finished at the last place with a low score. She also went to the 2019 Tashkent World Cup and she finished at the 6th place in All Around after some mistakes with ball. She won bronze with hoop and clubs, and take the 6th place with ribbon. The week after she participated at the 2019 Baku World Cup where she took the all around bronze medal behind Averina Twins. She won a bronze with clubs, finished 4th with ribbon, 5th with hoop and 7th with ball. She was also rewarded the World Cup winner with clubs for the second year in a row. At the Ukrainian National Championships, she won gold in all around. Her next competition were the European Championships in Baku. She qualified in the hoop and clubs final, and got a quota for next year Europeans Championships in Kiev, Ukraine. She won bronze with clubs and finished 8th with hoop after a bad routine. . She later participated at the Grand Prix Holon, in Israel where she finsihed 11th in the all around. She won silver with hoop, and it was her only final. . After the summer break, she came back at the 2019 Cluj Napoca World Challenge Cup with two new routines with ball and ribbon. She finished 4th in the all around, and qualified into the hoop, ball and clubs final. She won gold with clubs, and finsihed at the 5th place in hoop and ball. Her next competition was the 2019 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku; she qualified in ball, clubs and ribbon final. She won her first world championship medal, a bronze with clubs. She finished at the 4th place with ribbon and th wih ball. At the all around final, she finished at the 5th position ; it's her second year placed in the Top 5. She won an Olympic quota.

• Vlada in Thiais

• Grand Prix 2019