Sofia Raffaeli: The 'Atomic Ant' taking giant steps in the rhythmic gymnastics world

Italy's rhythmic gymnastics has a new star-in-the-making.

After breaking on to the international stage at the 2019 Junior World Championships in Moscow (where she won three silver medals), Sofia Raffaeli has shown last year and during this World Cup season that she has all the credentials to carve out a leading role in her sport.

Olympics.com spoke exclusively with the 18-year-old to talk about her beginnings, which Olympians she's looking up to, and what it means for her to be a role model for other young girls.

Sofia Raffaeli: The rise of the 'Atomic Ant'

Raffaeli first started with artistic gymnastics, but at the age of seven fell in love with rhythmic gymnastics.

It’s been 11 years since then and she hasn't left her local club (Società Ginnastica Fabriano), a centre of excellence and a hotbed of talent for the Italian team.

The Chiaravalle native knows that being a professional gymnast requires strong discipline but she also believes that to be an excellent performer you first need to have fun on the floor:

“If you have fun, you can do anything” that is the mantra of her coach Julieta Cantaluppi.

After all, Cantaluppi was one of her idols.

Their paths met when the seven-time Italian champion transitioned into coaching, and a seven-year-old girl Raffaeli started to take her first steps on the floor in Fabriano, in the Marche region. It was there, Sofia got her nickname ‘Atomic Ant’, as she was “tiny but with the explosive energy of a volcano”.

The 18-year-old describes herself as "a hard worker, humble and kind" but she's also determined and ambitious.

In 2019, she won individual silver in the rope and clubs at the Junior World Championships in Moscow and last season she clinched her first World Cup medals as a senior in Sofia and Tashkent putting her in contention for a spot at Tokyo 2020.

Though Raffaeli ended up watching the last Olympics on TV, she has since cemented her position as a rising star in the sport, claiming individual bronze and a team silver at the World Champs in Kitakyushu, Japan.

In 2022 she added nine titles during the World Cup events in Athens, Baku and Pesaro, becoming the first Italian to claim the all-around overall crown in the top circuit.

Recently, she also pulled off a clean sweep of golds at the national championships in Folgaria: "Those medals are a booster ahead of the European Championships in Tel Aviv," she said.

"When I realised it was my life"

“Rhythmic gymnastics is my life. It is not just a sport, it’s not just about handling the apparatus and executing difficult skills. It’s also about interpreting a story through music. And that's what made me fall in love with it," she said.

Raffaeli admits to spending eight hours a day in the gym every day since she can remember: "I realised I had to do this in life, putting aside school, friends, everything. But for me, it was never a sacrifice because if you have passion you will never feel the burden of a sacrifice," the newly crowned Italian champ said.

Competing in individual events feels natural for her: "I think I have it in my blood, it's not something you choose. You are aware that you are better at one thing than another, and I have always preferred to be an individual gymnast. I really like the team, even watching group competitions, but being an individual competitor is more my dimension."

The 18-year-old said that the Junior World Championships in 2019 were a turning point in her career and she remembers the first time she took part at the home World Cup in Pesaro last year: “I had never taken part in a World Cup in Pesaro and that was a beautiful and emotional experience and coming back there is always special.”

The circle of inspiration

“To be an example for others is nice because everyone tries to take something from you. And until a few years ago I was on the other side too, because I was looking up to other gymnasts, I was following them, hoping to become one day like them, in the same way, other girls now follow me,” the two-time world medallist said.

What's the advice for her fans and followers on social media?

“I’d like to tell them that with passion you can do it. The important thing is to have fun because if you feel happy and calm, then you can do anything.

"As a child, my coach [Cantaluppi] inspired me a lot: in the exercises she was very determined, she had beautiful handling skills, and with difficult skills she was very good.

"When I started it was 2011, I saw her training for London 2012, and I really enjoyed watching her. Then the following year she retired as an athlete. She was one of the few gymnasts who competed until she was 28, and managed to switch from being an athlete to coaching in a blink of an eye."

Sofia's idols

"I always looked up to Yana Kudryavtseva, who won silver at Rio 2016," Raffaeli confessed**.**

"She was elegant, clean and fluid in her routines. In the last four years, my favourite has been Linoy Ashram, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion. She’s been working hard, growing a lot and that’s why I’ve always admired her. She’s very good at handling skills and so she represents my idol at the moment. But I can’t forget the Averinas: their handling skills are amazing and their speed execution above everyone else."

Friendship and respect are very important for the Italian: "We have a good relationship with my team mates, we are very close, and we always try to help each other, especially with Milena Baldassarri, whom I grew up with. She has always helped me to overcome obstacles in competitions or in the gym. Among my team-mates, she is one of those who support me every day."

The sky is the limit for the Italian teen sensation: “The first goal is to improve, to try to finish the year in the best possible way, managing to perform all the apparatus in the best way. This is the year of the European and World Championships, and I'll try all my best, and then we'll see what happens…" she said.

"And a little further on, my dream since I was little is to participate in the Olympics, therefore to be in Paris. In a few years time, I hope I'll have made many steps forward, because the more you grow, the more you are able to reach the top."