After numerous medals in continental and world rhythmic competitions, the 24-year-old is now ready for gold at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.

Anna was born July 29, 1984, in Kiev. Her father, Vladimir Bessonov, a professional football player, played for Dynamo Kiev. Her mother, Viktoria, was a group rhythmic gymnast and won the World Championships twice. It was she who introduced young Anna to the world of rhythmic gymnastics.

Anna began training when she was only five. Instructed by Alina Deriugina and her daughter Irina Deriugina, a two-time world champion, she benefited a lot from excellent coaching and showed great talent at a young age.
In 1999, Anna competed in group gymnastics and finished third in the World Championship in Osaka, Japan. Two years later, she clinched the bronze medal for individual all-round at the 2001 worlds in Madrid, Spain.

After winning more titles at the World and European championships, the rising star went to Athens, where she performed impressively to earn an Olympic bronze medal.  Anna was finally awarded a long-waited gold medal at the 2007 world championship in Patras and most recently executed a gold-medal routine at LA Lights 2008.

Xinhua