Liubov Charkashyna

Liubov Charkashyna
Charkashyna at the 2012 Grand Prix Vorarlberg
Personal information
Full name	Liubov Viktorovna Charkashyna
Nickname(s)	Lyuba
Country represented	Belarus
Born	(1987-12-23) December 23, 1987 (age 29) Brest, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Residence	Minsk, Belarus
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Discipline	Rhythmic gymnastics
Level	senior elite
Years on national team	2002-2012
Head coach(es)	Irina Leparskaya
Assistant coach(es)	Galina Zolotnickaya
Retired	2012
World ranking	9 (2012 Season) 3 (2011 Season)
Medal record Representing  Belarus Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympic Games 2012 London All-Around World Championships 2007 Patras Team 2009 Mie Team 2010 Moscow Team 2011 Montpellier Team 2003 Budapest Team 2005 Baku Team 2011 Montpellier Ball European Championships 2011 Minsk Ball 2011 Minsk Clubs 2011 Minsk Team 2005 Moscow Team 2011 Minsk Hoop European Team Championships 2003 Moscow Team Grand Prix Final 2010 Berlin Hoop 2007 Innsbruck Ribbon 2010 Berlin Rope 2010 Berlin Ribbon Summer Universiade 2011 Shenzhen All-around 2011 Shenzhen Ribbon 2011 Shenzhen Ball

Liubov Viktorovna Charkashyna (Belarusian: Любоў Віктараўна Чаркашына; Russian: Любовь Викторовна Черкашина, born December 23, 1987) is a retired Belarusian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around bronze medalist, and the 2011 European ball and clubs gold medalist.

Charkashyna started training in rhythmic gymnastics at a relatively late age, when she was nine years old. She made her junior international debut in 2003. She had a successful 2007 season, winning bronze in ribbon at the Grand Prix Final in Innsbruck, Austria.

Charkashyna competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and placed 15th in qualifications. She did not advance to the top 10 finals round.

At the 2010 Grand Prix final in Berlin, Charkashyna won the silver medal in hoop and bronze medal in rope and ribbon final. 2011 marked her breakthrough season. She won the bronze all-around medal at the World Cup in Corbeil-Essonnes, as well as bronze in the all-around, ball and hoop at the 2011 World Cup series in Tashkent. On May 29, at the 2011 European Championships in Minsk, she became the only Belarusian senior gymnast to win two individual gold medals at one European Championship, winning the ball final and the clubs final against reigning World and Olympic champion, Evgenia Kanaeva. Charkashyna also won the bronze medal in the hoop finals.