Darja Varfolomeev took up rhythmic gymnastics aged three bearing the weight of family expectations. Her mother, Tatjana, was a competitive rhythmic gymnast but injury ended her career prematurely at 18.
"My mother has stopped doing rhythmic gymnastics, and she always wanted me to do it as well, so in a sense, I continued her career," Varfolomeev explained in an interview with Olympics.com.
Darja Varfolomeev: A life-changing move
At 13, Varfolomeev moved to her grandfather's homeland of Germany. Although adjusting to a new country and culture at such a young age was challenging, the youngster persevered.
"I moved there alone at first. My mom and dad did not go with me. That was very hard because I didn't know the language and was in a completely different country," Varfolomeev recalled.
Yulia Raskina, a Belarusian Olympic runner-up in Sydney 2000, was responsible for training the teenager, and success quickly followed. Varfolomeev made her senior debut at the 2022 World Cup held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She immediately caught everyone's attention by winning four medals - a bronze in the individual all-around, two silver medals in ball and ribbon, and a bronze in hoop.
Then came two bronze medals at the 2022 European Championships in clubs and ball. And on her World Championship debut that year, the young German denied Italy's Sofia Raffaeli a sweep of gold medals in clubs, winning three further medals including all-around silver.
Darja Varfolomeev: Golden sweep at 2023 World Championships
At the 2023 World Championships in Valencia, Varfolomeev succeeded when Raffaeli had just failed as she claimed all five individual titles - ring, balls, club, ribbon and all-around. She is the only athlete other than Evgeniya Kanaeva (2009, 2011) to achieve this golden sweep.
Varfolomeev looks set to make her Olympic debut in Paris 2024, and has high aspirations for the French capital where there is just one all-around gold at stake.
"The Olympics are the most important competition for each athlete. I would say that I am at about 70 per cent right now, so there is room to reach 100 per cent," Varfolomeev said after her Valencia triumph.
"There are always things to improve, and that is what we must manage until the Olympics. There will be a lot of hard work ahead of it, mentally and physically. I am aware of it, but I am really looking forward to it. It is going to be an amazing experience."