Yana Alexeyevna Kudryavtseva (Russian: Я́на Алексе́евна Кудря́вцева; born 30 September 1997) is a retired Russian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2016 Olympic All-around silver medalist, three-time World Champion in the All-around (2013–2015), the 2015 European Games All-around champion, two-time (2014, 2016) European Championships All-around champion, the 2012 European Junior ball champion. In national level, she is a two-time (2015, 2014) Russian National All-around champion and three time Russian Junior National all-around champion.
She holds the record as the youngest rhythmic gymnast to win the World Championships in the All-around at 15 years of age. She broke another record at the 2014 World Championships becoming the youngest to win back-to-back All-around World titles at 16. Kudryavtseva was one of the finalist for the 2015 SportAccord Awards in category of the Sportswoman of the Year 2014. At the 2015 World Championships, Kudryavtseva for the first time became the youngest to win three World All-around titles at 17 years of age, she won with a total of 75.632 surpassing her previous score at Worlds. She is a former record holder under the (2013–2016) 20-point judging system in the all-around with a total of 76.450 points. Her record was broken twice by teammate Margarita Mamun.
Kudryavtseva retired in January 2017 due to multiple leg injuries, including a fracture in the left foot sustained during the 2016 World Cup in Kazan. Throughout her career she had never finished a competition off an international All-around podium.
Yana's father, Aleksey Kudryavtsev was an elite swimmer and won an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the 4 × 200 m freestyle. Her mother, Viktoriia Kharitonova has called her an "Angel with iron wings", resembling a ballerina in the jewelry box when performing yet has an unbreakable constitution and strong will. Yana has a younger sister named Anna.
During her gymnastics career, Kudryavtseva trained 6–8 hours a day. A typical schedule included an early get up, then choreography and an open practice at the gym until 2 p.m. and a second practice in the afternoon lasting until 7 p.m., after which she would go to the sauna or swim. Her nickname in the gym was "Crystal Statuette".
Despite having achieved so much at a young age, Kudryavtseva has said about her success, "I cannot say I have accomplished really a lot. Like Irina Viner says: 'When you're on the victory podium, you're a queen, but when you come down from it, you're nobody. You cannot be too proud of yourself'. I am just like my teammates, we're all equal."
Kudryavtseva announced her engagement to Russian ice hockey player Dmitri Kugryshev in June 2018 via Instagram, the couple later married in July.
On 4 October 2018, Kudryavtseva announced via her Instagram that she was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl, Eva Dmitrievna Kugrysheva, on 25 December 2018. On 1 April 2020, Kudryavtseva announced her second pregnancy on her Instagram account.
On 29 August 2020, Kudryavtseva gave birth to a baby girl, Zoya.
Both of her daughters took up rhythmic gymnastics at a very early age, coached under Victoria Ilina.
Her father introduced her to gymnastics when she was four to improve her posture, flexibility, and body shape. She made her international debut competing on the novice level at the 2007 IT Finland. She won junior national competitions in Russia, including the national junior championships in 2009 Dmitrov, 2011 Samara and 2012 in Kazan.
In the 2011 season, Kudryavtseva won the junior World Cup titles at the 2011 and 2012 World Cup Pesaro. At the 2012 European Junior Championships she won the gold medal in ball as well as helping the Russian junior team (with Julia Sinitsina, Aleksandra Soldatova and Diana Borisova) win the junior team gold medal.
Kudryavtseva debuted as a senior at the 2013 Moscow Grand Prix. At her next Grand Prix in Holon, she competed in the Senior International event where she won the All-around gold medal as well as gold in clubs, ball and bronze in hoop, ribbon final. At age 15, she competed in her first World Cup at the 2013 Sofia where she became the first rhythmic gymnast to win a World Cup All-around gold medal in her debut beating Sylvia Miteva (silver) of Bulgaria and teammate Margarita Mamun (bronze), she also won gold medal in hoop, clubs and bronze in ribbon, ball final. Kudryavtseva won her second All-around gold medal at the 2013 Minsk World Cup. She missed qualifying in hoop final due to a drop and fumble of her hoop on the carpet but was able to win gold in ball and silver in clubs, ribbon final.
Kudryavtseva debuted at her first senior Europeans when she replaced Alexandra Merkulova who was one of Russia's nominal list entry for the 2013 European Championships in Vienna, Austria. Kudryavtseva competed in three apparatus and together with her teammates (Margarita Mamun and Daria Svatkovskaya) won Russia the Team gold medal. She won gold in clubs and ball (the first to score a 19.000 under the 2013–16 New Code of Points), she finished 4th in ribbon final. Kudryavtseva became the youngest gold medalist at the Europeans since Alina Kabaeva won also at 15 years of age.
Kudryavtseva competed at the 2013 World Cup stage in Saint Petersburg, Russia where she won the all-around bronze medal. She failed to qualify in hoop because of the fumble of her hoop outside the carpet at the end of her routine but won gold in ball and two silver medals in clubs, ribbon final behind teammate Margarita Mamun.
Kudryavtseva then debuted in her first Worlds at the 2013 World Championships in Kyiv, Ukraine. During the qualification a technical glitch with the sound repeatedly interrupted the music in her ribbon routine and she had to start her program again. Nevertheless, during the finals she won the gold medal in ribbon scoring 18.516 points and in clubs (tied with teammate Margarita Mamun), and took the silver medal in ball and hoop. Kudryavtseva won the All-around gold at the 2013 World Championships (Hoop:18.533, Ribbon:18.083, Ball:18.550, Clubs:18.700) with a total 73.866 points beating Ganna Rizatdinova of Ukraine and Melitina Staniouta of Belarus. She became the youngest rhythmic gymnast to win the World Championships in the All-around at 15 years old. In 25–27 October, Kudryavtseva competed at the World Club Championship, the 2013 Aeon Cup in Tokyo, Japan representing team Gazprom (together with teammates Margarita Mamun and junior Yulia Bravikova) won the team gold. She then won the All-around finals at the event.
Kudryavtseva began her season competing at the 2014 Moscow Grand Prix where she won the bronze medal in all-around behind teammate Maria Titova, qualifying to 2 event finals, she won silver in hoop and clubs. In her next event, Kudryavtseva won gold in all-around at the 2014 Thiais Grand Prix with an overall score of 74.300 points. In the event finals, she won gold in ball, hoop and silver in clubs. She then competed in the 2014 Stuttgart World Cup, where she won the all-around gold medal with an overall score of 74.784 points. In the event finals: she won 3 gold medals (ball, hoop, clubs) and finished 5th in ribbon. Kudryavtseva won silver in all-around at the 2014 Holon Grand Prix behind Margarita Mamun, she qualified to 3 event finals: she won 2 gold medals in (clubs, ribbon) and a bronze in ball. At the 2014 Pesaro World Cup, Kudryavtseva topped the all-around and event finals podium, it was Kudryavtseva's first sweep of the gold medal in all events competing as a senior. In 23–27 April at the 2014 Russian Championships in Penza, Kudryavtseva won her first National All-around title beating three-time Russian champion Margarita Mamun. She then competed at the 2014 Desio Italia Cup but withdrew after the second rotation due to illness. Kudryavsteva returned to competition at the 2014 Corbeil-Essonnes World Cup where she won the all-around silver behind Mamun, she qualified to 3 event finals: she won gold in ribbon and silver medals in clubs, hoop. Kudryavtseva won another all-around silver medal behind Mamun at the 2014 Tashkent World Cup with an overall score of 74.250 points. In event finals, she won 2 gold medals (ball, hoop), finished 6th in clubs and 7th in ribbon. In her next event, she won the all-around gold at the 2014 Minsk World Cup with a total of 74.583 ahead of Mamun. In the event finals, she won 3 gold medals (hoop, ball and clubs). In 10–15 June, Kudryavtseva won the 2014 European All-around title ahead of Melitina Staniouta of Belarus and Ganna Rizatdinova of Ukraine. In 8–10 August, Kudryavtseva won the all-around gold at the 2014 Sofia World Cup and all the event finals, becoming her second sweep of the gold medals in the World Cup series. In 5–7 September, competing at the 2014 World Cup series in Kazan, Russia, Kudryavtseva won the all-around scoring a total of 74.950, 1.7 points ahead of silver medalist Margarita Mamun. She qualified to all 4 event finals, and won gold in ball (19.000), clubs (18.950), ribbon (18.450) and silver in hoop (18.450). In 22–28 September, Kudryavtseva (along with teammates Margarita Mamun and Aleksandra Soldatova) represented Russia at the 2014 World Championships where they won Team gold with a total of 147.914 points. She qualified to all event finals and won 3 gold medals (in ball, hoop, clubs) and a silver in ribbon. In the All-around, Kudryavtseva became the youngest rhythmic gymnast to win back-to-back All-around title scoring (in Ball:18.800, Clubs:18.916, Ribbon:18.550, Hoop:19.000) a total of 75.266 points, the highest total mark recorded under the 20-point judging system at the World Championships. Kudryavtseva was also awarded the Longines Prize for Elegance, which saw her receive $5,000, a statue by Swiss artist Jean-Pierre Gerber and a watch. In 17–19 October, Kudryavtseva traveled in Tokyo for the 2014 Aeon Cup, representing team Gazprom (together with teammates Margarita Mamun and junior Veronika Polyakova) won the team gold. She won the All-around silver in the finals behind teammate Margarita Mamun. Kudryavtseva was one of the finalist for the 2015 SportAccord Awards in category of the Sportswoman of the Year 2014, along with Geva Mentor (GBR, Netball), Kaillie Humphries (CAN, Bobsleigh) and Marit Bjørgen (NOR, Cross Country Skiing).