# Vera Tugolukova

Vera Aleksandrovna Tugolukova (born 16 September 2008) is a Russian-born rhythmic gymnast who has competed for Cyprus in international competitions since 2023. She represented Cyprus at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Women's rhythmic individual all-around and placed 16th in the qualifications for the all around.

## Gymnastics career
### Russia

In 2022, Tugolukova won the gold medal with the hoop at the Russian Junior Championships. At the Children of Asia International Sport Games in Vladivostok, she won silver all-around as well as gold in the ribbon final, bronze in the ball final, and silver in the club final.
She could not compete in International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) sponsored competitions due to the suspension of Russian athletes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In November 2022, the FIG announced that Tugolukova had changed her nationality to Cyprus. Irina Viner, head coach of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team, noted that Tugolukova's parents had moved to Cyprus.

### Cyprus

Tugolukova joined the Cypriot national team as a junior in 2023 and her first international competition representing Cyprus was in March at the Aphrodite Cup in Athens, Greece, finishing fifth in the all-around in her age category and winning silver in the hoop final. Then at the Sofia Cup, she won two golds in the ball and club finals and silver in the ribbon final, while in hoop she was fifth. In the AGF Trophy in Baku, Azerbaijan, she won gold medals in the all-around and with the hoop and silver medals in the ball and clubs finals.
Tugolukova was selected to compete at the 2023 Junior World Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She competed with hoop, ball, and clubs, while her teammate, Nika Khodareva, did so with the ribbon. Tugolukova qualified for three apparatus finals and finished seventh in hoop, fifth in ball, and sixth in clubs.
Tugolukova became age-eligible for senior competitions in 2024. She made her senior debut at the Palaio Faliro World Cup and finished sixth in the all-around. In the apparatus finals, she won a bronze medal in the ribbon final, which was the first-ever medal for Cyprus on the FIG World Cup series. At her next event, the Sofia World Cup, she finished 14th in the all-around. She then won three medals at the first edition of the European Cup in Baku: silver with the ribbon and bronze with the hoop and clubs.
At the 2024 European Championships in Budapest, she finished 11th in the all-around during the qualification round. As the highest-ranked gymnast from a country that had not already qualified, Tugolukova earned the continental berth for the 2024 Summer Olympics ahead of Poland's Liliana Lewińska. The Polish Gymnastics Federation protested the results and filed appeals to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation. Tugolukova's Olympic qualification was confirmed by the FIG on 4 June. She finished 16th in the all-around final, fourth in the clubs final, and seventh in the ball final.
In August, Vera competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was the youngest gymnast in the entire rhythmic gymnastics competition. She ended the qualification round in 16th place and did not advance to the final.
In February 2025, Evangelia Trikomiti, who was president of the superior jury at the 2024 European Championships, was banned from the sport for four years after the FIG ruled she had altered the scores at the competition to ensure Tugolukova finished in the Olympic qualification place.

## Achievements

* First Cypriot rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an individual apparatus final at the FIG World Cup series.

## Competitive history

| Year | Event | AA | HP | BA | CL |
| Junior ||||||||
| Representing Russia ||||||||
| 2022 | Russian Junior Championships | | | | |
| 2022 | Children of Asia International Sport Games | | | | |
| Representing Cyprus ||||||||
| 2023 | Aphrodite Cup | 5 | | | |
| 2023 | Sofia Cup | 4 | 5 | | |
| 2023 | AGF Trophy | | | | |
| 2023 | Junior World Championships | | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| Senior ||||||||
| 2024 | Palaio Faliro World Cup | 6 | | | |
| 2024 | Sofia World Cup | 14 | | | |
| 2024 | European Cup | | | | |
| 2024 | European Championships | 16 | | 7 | 4 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | 16 | | | |

## Routine music information

| Year | Apparatus | Music title |
| 2025 | Hoop | |
| 2025 | Ball | Mein Herr by Kelli Barrett & The Kit Kat Girls |
| 2025 | Clubs | Nao Deixe O Samba Morrer / Samba Do Mundo (Fatboy Slim Presents Gregor Salto) [feat. Saxsymbol & Todorov] by Alcione |
| 2025 | Ribbon | |
| 2024 | Hoop | "Misirlou" by David Garrett |
| 2024 | Hoop (second) | Sous le ciel de Paris (song) by Mireille Mathieu |
| 2024 | Ball | "Seven Nation Army" by Postmodern Jukebox (feat. Haley Reinhart) |
| 2024 | Clubs | The 5th by David Garrett |
| 2024 | Ribbon | The Firebird: Ep 16. Danse infernale de tous les sujets de Kastchei by Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| 2023 | Hoop | "Miserlou" by Caroline Campbell and William Joseph (feat. Tina Guo) |
| 2023 | Ball | "Mama" by Dalida |
| 2023 | Clubs | "Macarena" by Los del Rio |
| 2023 | Ribbon | "Gelato Al Cioccolato" by Enzo Ghinazzi |
| 2022 | Hoop | Game Rhapsody by David Garrett |
| 2022 | Ball | Come prima (Weekend à Rome) by Dany Brillant |
| 2022 | Clubs | Bella Ciao by David Garrett |
| 2022 | Ribbon | "Gelato Al Cioccolato" by Enzo Ghinazzi |