Olympic Medals Won by the Graduate of Penza State University

 Former student of the Institute of Sport and Physical Training – Denis Ablyazin – is a renowned artistic gymnast who competed and won in European and World Championships since the beginning of his career in 2011. Now he is the medalist of London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

In Rio Russian gymnasts won Men’s Team All-around competitions, losing only to Japan and overcoming Chinese gymnasts. This is the first team medal in 16 years for Russia.

Denis managed to win two more medals in individual events – bronze in rings and silver in vault. When asked which of the three medals was most important for him, he said they are all equal.

‘This is a remarkable event. Russian team has been without a medal for 16 years. We worked for 8 years with David Balyavsky, Nikolai Kuksenkov, and we did everything we could to win, and we did it! We might have performed better, but we are so happy to have silver. We are truly a team! That’s the only thing that matters. We were aiming to do our job, we did not think about medals, and we managed it. I am so happy,’ noted Denis.

Denis is coached by Sergei Starkin and does not plan to finish his sporting career, notwithstanding the injuries he has to deal with.