# Margarita Mamun (Маргарита Абдуллаевна Мамун)
**Margarita Mamun** (Маргарита Абдуллаевна Мамун; born 1995 in Moscow) is a retired Russian rhythmic gymnast who won the individual all-around gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with a total of 76.483 points.[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292) • [2](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050) She competed internationally from 2011 to 2016, taking Olympic gold, two world all-around silver medals, and multiple world and European team titles.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1995, Moscow, Russia[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292) |
| Olympic result | Gold, individual all-around, Rio 2016, 76.483 points; her only Olympic Games[2](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050) • [1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292) |
| World all-around | Silver in 2014 (74.149) and 2015 (74.766), behind teammate Yana Kudryavtseva[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) |
| Apparatus titles | 2015 world hoop champion (18.950); 2014 world titles in ball (shared with Yana Kudryavtseva) and ribbon[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) • [13](https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/wog/72-77/74_eng/phone/review-izmir-2014.html) |
| Team titles | World team gold 2014 and 2015; European team gold 2013 (Vienna) and 2015 (Minsk)[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) • [1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292) |
| Coaches | Amina Zaripova (personal), Irina Viner-Usmanova (national team)[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) |
| Early career | Competed in junior events for Bangladesh, her father's country of birth, before switching to Russia at senior level[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) |
## Early life and junior career
Mamun began training at age seven in Moscow after seeing the sport on television and asking her mother to introduce her to it.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) Her father is an engineer from Bangladesh who settled in Moscow, and her mother is a former gymnast.[4](https://www.thedailystar.net/sports/rio2016olympics/the-bengal-tiger-russia-wins-gymnastics-gold-1273234) Because of her father's origin she competed internationally in junior events for Bangladesh before switching to Russia at senior level, a background that earned her the nickname Bengal Tiger (she is also called Rita).[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) In 2010 she was invited to compete at the inaugural [Youth Olympic Games](https://www.edgepedia.org/youth-olympic-games) in Singapore but chose instead to remain within the Russian national team system.[5](https://www.championat.ru/olympic/article-3291165-olimpiada-2016-mamun--chempionka-olimpiady-serebro-u-kudrjavcevoj.html)
Her international senior debut came in 2011 at the World Cup in Montreal, competing for Russia.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) Her first major competition was the 2013 European Championships in Vienna, where she won the team title.[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292)
## Career results
**World Championships.** At the 2013 Worlds in Kiev Mamun led after qualification but finished sixth in the all-around final with 70.290, while winning apparatus finals on ball (18.516) and clubs (18.366).[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) In 2014 in Izmir she took the all-around silver with 74.149 and won two apparatus titles, on ball (shared with Yana Kudryavtseva) and ribbon, plus the team gold.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) • [13](https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/wog/72-77/74_eng/phone/review-izmir-2014.html) In 2015 in [Stuttgart](https://www.edgepedia.org/stuttgart) she was again the all-around runner-up, with 74.766, won the hoop final with 18.950, and took a second consecutive world team title; she also received the Prize for Elegance at that championship.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452)
**European Championships.** Mamun won European team gold in 2013 in Vienna and 2015 in Minsk, where she also won the hoop final with 19.000.[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292) • [3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) At the 2016 European Championships in Holon she took the individual all-around silver with 75.632.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452)
**World Cup circuit.** In the 2016 season before Rio she won the all-around at four World Cup events: Baku (77.150), Kazan (77.050), [Guadalajara](https://www.edgepedia.org/guadalajara) (76.550), and Minsk (75.700), and was second in Pesaro.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452)
## Rio 2016
Mamun's only Olympic appearance was the individual all-around at Rio 2016, held 19 to 20 August at the Rio Olympic Arena.[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292) • [2](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050) She entered as the second Russian hope behind her teammate and close friend Yana Kudryavtseva, the 18-year-old three-time defending world all-around champion, who was the favorite after [Yevgeniya Kanayeva](https://www.edgepedia.org/yevgeniya-kanayeva)'s retirement.[2](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050) • [6](https://agu-gymnastics.com/mamun-takes-her-place-in-the-olympic-sun/) Mamun led after qualification with 74.383, ahead of Kudryavtseva's 73.998.[2](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050)
In the final Mamun scored above 19 points on all four apparatus, the benchmark score in the sport, and finished with 76.483.[6](https://agu-gymnastics.com/mamun-takes-her-place-in-the-olympic-sun/) • [2](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050) Kudryavtseva, who led at the halfway point, missed a catch at the end of her clubs routine and finished second with 75.608; Ukraine's Hanna Rizatdinova took bronze with 73.583.[6](https://agu-gymnastics.com/mamun-takes-her-place-in-the-olympic-sun/) • [2](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050) The result gave Russia its fifth consecutive Olympic gold in the individual all-around, following Yulia Barsukova (2000), Alina Kabayeva (2004), and Kanayeva (2008 and 2012), and a Russian one-two finish for the fifth Games in a row.[6](https://agu-gymnastics.com/mamun-takes-her-place-in-the-olympic-sun/) • [7](https://www.olympedia.org/editions/59/sports/GRY?id=MPN) After four years as the recurring silver medallist in international competition, the Olympic title was Mamun's first major all-around victory over Kudryavtseva.[6](https://agu-gymnastics.com/mamun-takes-her-place-in-the-olympic-sun/)
## Training system and Over the Limit
Mamun trained under the Russian national system headed by Irina Viner-Usmanova, head coach of the national team and president of the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, with Amina Zaripova as her personal coach.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) • [8](https://film-forward.com/documentary/over-the-limit) In the run-up to Rio she endured more than 30 hours of training each week.[9](https://iwonder.com/films/over-the-limit)
Her preparation for the 2016 Games is the subject of *Over the Limit* (2017), a feature-length documentary by the Polish director Marta Prus, filmed with behind-the-scenes access to the Russian training program.[10](https://filmmovement.com/educational/film/over-the-limit) The film shows Viner-Usmanova delivering caustic critiques as Mamun pushes her body toward its physical limits, and depicts the triangular relationship between Viner-Usmanova, the more soft-spoken Zaripova, and their pupil.[10](https://filmmovement.com/educational/film/over-the-limit) • [11](https://eefb.org/perspectives/marta-prus-over-the-limit-2017/) Prus has said the punitive training method shown is a Soviet-era system used across Belarus and Ukraine as well as Russia, not something specific to Viner-Usmanova, and that criticism from Zaripova, who knew Mamun's weak points, hurt her more.[12](https://eefb.org/interviews/marta-prus-on-over-the-limit/)
## Recognition
Mamun holds the Russian title of Honoured Master of Sport and was awarded the Prize for Elegance at the 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart.[3](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452) Her gold medal was celebrated in Bangladesh as well as Russia, with her father's home country hailing it as a win for two countries.[4](https://www.thedailystar.net/sports/rio2016olympics/the-bengal-tiger-russia-wins-gymnastics-gold-1273234)
## References
1. [Margarita Mamun, L'Équipe profile](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/margarita-mamun/80292)
2. [Olympedia, Individual, Women, Rio 2016](https://www.olympedia.org/results/351050)
3. [MAMUN Margarita, FIG Athlete Profile](https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=34452)
4. [A win for two countries, The Daily Star](https://www.thedailystar.net/sports/rio2016olympics/the-bengal-tiger-russia-wins-gymnastics-gold-1273234)
5. [Олимпиада-2016. Мамун – чемпионка Олимпиады, Чемпионат](https://www.championat.ru/olympic/article-3291165-olimpiada-2016-mamun--chempionka-olimpiady-serebro-u-kudrjavcevoj.html)
6. [Mamun takes her place in the Olympic sun, Asian Gymnastics Union](https://agu-gymnastics.com/mamun-takes-her-place-in-the-olympic-sun/)
7. [Olympedia, Rhythmic Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics](https://www.olympedia.org/editions/59/sports/GRY?id=MPN)
8. [Over the Limit review, Film-Forward](https://film-forward.com/documentary/over-the-limit)
9. [Over the Limit, iWonder](https://iwonder.com/films/over-the-limit)
10. [Over The Limit, Film Movement](https://filmmovement.com/educational/film/over-the-limit)
11. [Marta Prus' Over the Limit (2017), East European Film Bulletin](https://eefb.org/perspectives/marta-prus-over-the-limit-2017/)
12. [Marta Prus on Over the Limit, East European Film Bulletin](https://eefb.org/interviews/marta-prus-on-over-the-limit/)
13. [Review: Izmir 2014](https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/wog/72-77/74_eng/phone/review-izmir-2014.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Athletics, gymnastics, and strength sports › Gymnasts, teams, clubs, and governance*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license