Darja Varfolomeev

Career Junior

At the first Junior World Championships in rhythmic gymnastics in Moscow in 2019, she placed 15th in the team event with Margarita Kolosov. She also placed 15th in qualifications for the clubs, which was the only apparatus she competed with.

Senior 2022 season: Senior debut and World silver all-around medal She debuted in the senior category in 2022, at World Cup Tashkent, where she won the bronze medal in the all-around. She took another bronze medal in the hoop final and two silver medals in the ball and ribbon finals, and she placed 4th with clubs. On May 20–22, she competed at the World Challenge Cup in Pamplona, where she took 4th place in the all-around. She also won two gold medals in the ball and ribbon finals and was 4th place in the clubs final. Varfolomeev continued collecting medals at World Challenge Cup Portimão, where she won silver in the all-around behind Israeli Adi Asya Katz. She took three more medals in the apparatus finals - two gold with ball and clubs and one silver with hoop.

In June she competed at the European Championships in Tel Aviv, along with Margarita Kolosov, the senior group, and the two juniors Lada Pusch and Anna-Maria Shatokhin; she won two bronze medals in the ball and clubs finals. In late August she took part in the World Cup in Cluj-Napoca, where she was 6th in the all-around, 4th with ball and 4th with clubs.

Varfolomeev was also selected for the World Championships in Sofia along with Kolosov and the senior group. There she won gold in the clubs final, silver in the all-around, team category, and ball, as well as bronze with hoop.

2023 season: World all-around gold sweep

In 2023 she showed her clubs routine in the Italian clubs championship' first stage, where she competed for Motto Viareggio. Due to a foot operation in December 2022, Varfolomeev competed with only two apparatuses in the Fellbach-Schmiden Tournament, where she won gold in both the ball and clubs finals. She won one medal at the 2023 European Championships, the gold in ribbon.

At the 2023 World Championships held in late August, Varfolomeev won every gold medal available in the all-around and the four apparatus finals, making her the first rhythmic gymnast to do so since Evgeniya Kanaeva in 2009 and fourth to ever do so after Bianka Panova, Oksana Kostina, and Kanaeva.

In October, she was a co-winner of the Piotr Nurowski Prize awarded by the European Olympic Committees to athletes under 18, along with Turkish swimmer Kuzey Tunçelli. During the off-season, she traveled to give master classes in Spain and Poland.

The next month, she competed at the World Cup in Baku. She won the all-around gold ahead of Elvira Krasnobaeva and Sofia Raffaeli, and she then went on to win three of the four event final golds as well in the hoop, ball, and ribbon finals. In the clubs final, she dropped her apparatus and came in third behind Raffaeli and Taisiia Onofriichuk. The week after, she competed at the next World Cup in Tashkent, where she once again won the all-around, this time ahead of Takhmina Ikromova and Boryana Kaleyn. In the apparatus finals, she won two more golds in clubs and ribbon, and silver in the other two finals, hoop and ball.

In May, she represented Germany at the 2024 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She won the bronze medal in the all-around final behind Stiliana Nikolova and Sofia Raffaeli. She also placed fourth in the team competition with fellow Germans Anastasia Simakova, Margarita Kolosov, and the German senior group. In the apparatus finals, Varfolomeev won a gold medal in ribbon and placed fourth in the ball final. She did not advance into the clubs final after finishing 10th in qualifications.

On June 6–7, she competed at the German National Championships and won the silver medal in the all-around behind Margarita Kolosov. She had a drop during her hoop routine when the hoop hit a bar on the ceiling and at the end of the all-around, she was 0.3 point away from her teammate. The next day, during the event finals, she adjusted her routines for the ceiling of the venue and rebounded to win three of the four gold medals (hoop, clubs, and ribbon). She also won silver in the ball final behind Kolosov. Later in June, she competed at the World Cup in Milan. She won the all-around ahead of Sofia Raffaeli and Viktoriia Onopriienko and won three medals in the apparatus finals: gold with ball and clubs and silver with ribbon. In the hoop final, she dropped her apparatus and ended in fourth.

In August, she competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics. After dropping her hoop, she qualified for the final in second place behind Sofia Raffaeli. In the final, she was the only competitor with multiple scores above 36, and she won the competition, making her the first German rhythmic gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal and the first rhythmic gymnast to win a medal for Germany since Regina Weber won a bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics. She said of her result, "It's difficult to say something right now. I'm really happy and I'm still not really believing it." Later in November, she competed in the final of the rhythmic gymnastics Bundesliga; she and Anna-Maria Shatokhin contributed the most points for their club, TSV Schmieden, which won the competition. Varfolomeev noted the size of the audience at the competition and said, "In most cases, we don't have such a full hall, which makes me even happier that so many are now interested in our sport".

2025 season: Two-time World champion Varfolomeev spent the first part of the season balancing training, finishing her secondary education, and working to attain her driver's license, which she described as a stressful workload, though she also said, "I try to solve every problem with a smile." She also grew another over the year, which she said she continuously needed to adjust to.

She began her season in late February by competing for the Italian club Motto Viareggio during the first stage of the Italian Serie A1 club championship. She performed her clubs routine and received the highest score of the day, and Motto Viareggio won the competition. On April 18-20, she competed at Baku World Cup and took 4th place in the all-around. She failed to qualify for the hoop final, but she finished fifth in the ball final and took home gold medals in the clubs and ribbon finals. The week after, she competed at her next World Cup in Tashkent, where she won the all-around silver medal behind Takhmina Ikromova after a tiebreak; they both scored 112.25 points, but Ikromova had the higher execution score. Although she had issues with her apparatus during her qualifying hoop routine, she qualified to the ball, clubs, and ribbon apparatus finals and won gold in all three.

Ahead of the European Championships in June, Varfolomeev noted that she was still becoming used to her new routines and said that she was "maybe at 40 percent" in feeling confident with them. In the apparatus finals, she placed fifth with hoop and won gold with her ribbon routine; she said that she was confident in the routine and that she was happy to have performed it as she did in training.

Varfolomeev won Germany's first qualifying event for the World Championships ahead of Margarita Kolosov. She returned to international competition on July 18, at the World Cup Milan, where she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Sofia Raffaeli. She won the gold medal in the ball final, while in the other finals she placed sixth in the hoop and fourth in both the clubs and ribbon after making several errors. A week later, she competed in the World Cup Challenge Cluj-Napoca, where she won the gold medal in the all-around. In the end of July, she won every gold medal in the all-around and all apparatus finals at the 2025 German National Championships. Afterward, she rated her preparation at "90 percent", and she credited the increase in her performance to being able to focus on training after having completed her school exams.

At the 2025 World Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Varfolomeev represented Germany along with her teammate Anastasia Simakova. She qualified to the all-around final in first place. During the final, after her first routine with the clubs, she did not look at her interim scores. She ultimately defended her title, winning gold above Stiliana Nikolova and Sofia Raffaeli. During the medal ceremony, the national anthem for Georgia was mistakenly played rather than that of Germany. In the event finals, Varfolomeev took all but one apparatus title, nearly repeating her result from 2023; she did not medal in hoop after she fell out of a turn onto her hands. She also won gold in the team event with the other German gymnasts, for a total of five gold medals.

In December, she competed one routine, hoop, in the final of the rhythmic gymnastics Bundesliga; she earned the highest score for her club, TSV Schmiden, which won the competition.

2026 season Varfolomeev presented her new routines (hoop and clubs) in March at Gymnastik International Fellbach-Schmiden, and she won gold medals with both. Then she competed at the International Tournament MTM Cup in Ljubljana, winning gold in clubs and ribbon. On April 10-12, she competed at Tashkent World Cup and won the silver medal in the all-around behind Maria Borisova. She took gold in the clubs and ribbon finals and bronze in the hoop final. Later in April, she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Taisiia Onofriichuk at the Baku World Cup. In the finals, she won three more gold medals (ball, clubs, ribbon).

In May, at the 2026 European Championships, Varfolomeev was the dominant gymnast, winning the all-around title for the first time as well as the ball and ribbon finals. She placed 4th in the hoop final and missed qualifying for the clubs final. She said afterward, "I have already won all the big titles in the all-around - except at the European Championships. Now the gold medal is finally here. That makes me very happy and grateful." During the competition, she struggled with nausea and pain from a wisdom tooth.

In an interview released in May, Varfolomeev was critical of the level of funding given to athletes in Germany. She said that while she was grateful to have received funding since 2019, without the money she received being directly contingent on her competitive success, and that it had allowed her career to begin, as a top athlete, she received €800 a month, which was not enough to live independently. Varfolomeev stated that she felt lucky to be supported by her parents and to receive her leotards - which would normally cost €1000 each - for free, which she noted was the case for very few other gymnasts. In July, she competed at the Milan World Cup and ended in won gold medal in all-around. She also won gold medals in ball and clubs finals. After the conclusion of the World Cup series, Varfolomeev won four out of the five individual trophies for success over the course of the series; she lost only the hoop title, won by Taisiia Onofriichuk.

In July, she won the gold medal in the all-around at the 2026 German national championships. She also won gold in the hoop and ball finals and bronze with ribbon. A record number of spectators, more than 3,000, attended the championships, which was attributed to Varfolomeev popularizing the sport in Germany; the upcoming 2026 World Championships in Frankfurt were also sold out. She was selected to represent Germany alongside Lada Pusch and Anastasia Simakova at the World Championships.

At the World Championships, she placed first in the qualifying round and qualified for three of the four apparatus finals. She missed the clubs final, and so she was not able to defend the World clubs title she had held since 2022. Varfolomeev said "it's very, very annoying" but that she was happy she had made the other finals. In the all-around final, she began with mistakes in her hoop routine, but she delivered stronger performances with the other three apparatuses to win her third consecutive all-around World title.

Achievements First German rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an individual apparatus final at the European Championships since 1980, making her the first German rhythmic gymnast to medal in an individual apparatus final at European Championships after the reunification of Germany. First German rhythmic gymnast to win two medals in individual apparatus finals at the European Championships. First German rhythmic gymnast to win gold, or any medal, in an all-around final at the European Championships. First German rhythmic gymnast to win gold, or any medal, in an individual apparatus final at the World Championships since 1975, making her the first German rhythmic gymnast to become a World Champion after the reunification of Germany. First German rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an all-around final at World Championships since 1975, making her the first German rhythmic gymnast to achieve this after the reunification of Germany. First German rhythmic gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal.

Awards Piotr Nurowski Prize (2023) Athlete of the Month (2023, 2025 and 2026) German Sportswoman of the Year (2024) German Sportswoman of the Year of the state capital of Stuttgart (2024) Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (2024) Flatow Medaille (2025) Carl-Schuhmann-Medaille (2025) AGF Trophy (2026)

Detailed Olympic results

Routine music information

Competitive highlights (Team competitions in seniors are held only at the World Championships, Europeans and other Continental Games.)