Germany's golden girl Darja Varfolomeev relives emotional journey - and reveals her superpowers
Olympics.com spoke to the rhythmic gymnast after she made history in Valencia, Spain by matching the all-time record for the most gold medals won at a single world championships.
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Darja Varfolomeev does not remember when she started rhythmic gymnastics.
Coming to the gym for the first time as a three-year-old - an age when children typically learn how to play with a ball and trace shapes with their fingers - Varfolomeev was not there to hone her dexterity. Rather, she was at the start of a turbulent journey that would see her dedicate countless hours to training, move abroad as a child and live without her family for three years, and eventually become the youngest ever rhythmic gymnast to achieve a clean sweep at a world championships.
The 16-year-old was all smiles and giggles as she sat down for an interview with Olympics.com, after winning all five individual gold medals at the 2023 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Valencia, Spain, occasionally turning aside to chat to her mother.
It was because of her mother Tatjana that Varfolomeev first got into the sport. Also a competitive rhythmic gymnast, she was forced to retire from the sport at the age of 18 due to a knee injury. Her daughter then stepped up to carry the family name forward.
After the triumph in Valencia, it is fair to say Varfolomeev has surpassed her mother's results and expectations.
"I am incredibly proud of myself. I will never forget this in my life," the gymnast told Olympics.com after making history. "My parents are incredibly proud. They can't believe it."
Just how much the medals meant could be seen in Varfolomeev's uncontained emotions as she laid on the floor after her final routine, crying at the realisation that she has accomplished a full golden sweep.
Only one rhythmic gymnast has managed that at a single world championships before: Russia's Evgeniya Kanaeva, who first did so in 2009, a year after winning her first Olympic individual all-around title, and in 2011, a year before successfully defending her Olympic all-around title - a feat that remains unmatched in the sport's history.
With less than a year to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, is Varfolomeev now also aiming at making Olympic history and repeating Kanaeva's record? Olympics.com sat down with the new world champion in Valencia to find out.
Darja Varfolomeev: Doing it for family
Born in Barnaul, Russia, Varfolomeev went to her first rhythmic gymnastics class when she was three years old, at the encouragement of her mother.
"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.
Carrying on her mother's mission also meant making sacrifices. In 2019, Varfolomeev moved to Germany, her grandfather's birth country, and continued her training there. Her parents eventually moved as well, but for the first three years Varfolomeev was there alone.
Then 13, she moved into a boarding school with other gymnasts. Varfolomeev's grandfather and grandmother live 200km away from the training base and would come to support her when they could.
"I moved there alone at first. My mom and dad did not go with me. That was very hard, the fact that I didn't know the language and that I was in a completely different country," Varfolomeev recalled in fluent German.
"A new country, a new language but I received a lot of support, especially from my coach Yulia Raskina and the Federation and then it became easier".
Going to a regular school also helped with the assimilation process and within two years Varfolomeev became comfortable with the German language and lifestyle.
The young gymnast made her senior debut at the 2022 World Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where she immediately turned heads, picking up four medals: bronze in the individual all-around, as well as two silver in ball and ribbon and a bronze in hoop.
She followed that up with two bronze medals at the 2022 European Championships, in clubs and ball, and four podium finishes in her world championships debut, including silver in the all-around. Her gold in clubs also denied Italy's Sofia Raffaeli the perfect sweep - a feat that Varfolomeev herself would accomplish the following year.
"It is unbelievable winning five gold medals, especially the all-around, which is of course the most important one," said Varfolomeev, who trains under 2000 Olympic silver medallist Raskina. "A huge thanks to my coach who basically did all the work, it was 70 per cent her and maybe 30 per cent from me. The preparation for this journey was really hard but we did it and delivered in the most important moment of all around, which makes me very happy."
Darja Varfolomeev's mental strength
Varfolomeev's perfect record in Valencia is already plenty for an enduring legacy in rhythmic gymnastics. The German teen, however, looks to showcase something deeper under the surface.
"I think people may remember that I am so strong mentally despite only being 16," Varfolomeev replied when asked how she would like to be remembered.
"I always try to remain calm. I am not afraid because I know we spent a lot of time on training," she added. "I was not afraid as I knew that I was well prepared and then everything worked out."
While Varfolomeev has exhibited a resilient mindset since a young age - her independent move to Germany being one example on that journey - she has also been using the help of a sports psychologist of the German team to further hone her mental powers.
"We are working with a psychologist that helps us when we are having problems or when we are afraid and we are also doing mental exercises like visualising the routines, doing them cleanly," Varfolomeev said. "And when we do get afraid she tells us, look, you have trained a lot and you have already had a lot of success, you can achieve anything."
"Cool" gymnastics: Putting on a show
Mental strength is something that Varfolomeev describes as one of her two superpowers. The other? Expressiveness.
The teen transforms into a variety of characters as she jumps from a spy persona in the hoop routine, set to the soundtrack of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to a desparate lover juggling a ball with Duffy begging for "Mercy" in the background or a party girl dancing to Alex Gaudino's "Destination Calabria".
"Music is the most important thing as you are listening to it every day and you are working with it every day," Varfolomeev explained. "It has to be cool so that people remember your performance. And I am trying to make each routine different. That is very important to me. I want to show different emotions, not just a party feeling, but also some heavy and crazy emotions. Everything."
Of all her routines, ribbon is the most personal. Set to the haunting ethnic beats of Havasi's Generali it appears to be taking the spectators into a mystical land while actually retelling Varfolomeev's story as a gymnast.
"In my ribbon routine I have selected a rather heavy and strong music to describe my journey into rhythmic gymnastics," Varfolomeev said. "There were moments when I stopped and then continued to become even better. So I'd say my ribbon routine is how I try to show my journey into the sport."
Aside from listening to music, Varfolomeev enjoys painting by numbers as a way to spark her creativity. The activity also has the double benefit of calming the mind after intense training or competitions.
Olympic quest: An even stronger Varfolomeev
Evgeniya Kanaeva remains the only gymnast to have won two Olympic individual all-around titles. After matching the Russian's record of a clean sweep on the world championships stage, is Varfolomeev now dreaming of repeating her Olympic achievement as well?
If included in the German delegation by her National Olympic Committee (NOC), Paris 2024 would mark the first Olympic Games for Varfolomeev.
And guess what? After winning it all on the world stage, the teen says she can perform even better.
"It is always important to improve. 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. "I can increase the difficulty of my routine, perform it cleanly so there is no room for judges saying, 'Oh, she didn't do this or that'. There are always things to improve and that is what we have to manage until the Olympics.
"It's going to 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."