Rozalia's Republik Biography (English)

Biography (English)

Roza Galieva was born on April 26, 1977 in Almalyk, Uzbekistan to ethnic Russian parents. She began gymnastics in 1982. She first came to prominence as a member of the Soviet Junior Team in 1990 with the likes of Tatyana Gutsu and Dina Kochetkova where she helped the Soviet team win the 1990 Junior European Team Title. The following year, she competed at the 1991 Junior European Championships against such notables as Lavinia Milosovici, Dina Kochetkova, and Silvia Mitova. Roza ended up finishing 12th in the All-Around, however she did manage to win the balance beam title over two future world champions. But more success was to come for Roza.

In the summer of 1991, Roza shocked the Soviet establishment by finishing incredibly high in the Spartikade, the trials for the World Championship team that would travel to Indianapolis in the fall. She beat out such gymnasts as the talented but inconsistent Tatyana Groshkova and Natalya Laschenova, the All-Around Silver medalist from the 1989 Worlds, to make the World Team. In Indianapolis, Roza got off to a shaky start on beam but was strong elsewhere to finish in the top 10 after the team competition, where she helped the Soviet team win the gold.

In 1992, Galieva retained her position as one of the stars on the Soviet Team after the break-up of her country. In April of that year, she, Tatyana Gutsu, Tatyana Lisenko, and Svetlana Boginskaya were chosen to compete in the First World Apparatus Championships, a world championships with no team or all-around. Roza did very well in the preliminary round placing 2nd on the uneven bars, 3rd on balance beam qualifying, and 4th on the floor qualifying. Unfortunately, more than anything, the Paris Worlds were known for their poor organization. The gymnasts were forced to train in a cold gym where many became ill, including Roza, and she was forced to withdraw from the competition. But because Roza performed well during the CIS Nationals and the Moscow Stars of The World and the pre-Olympic camp, she became the youngest of the six members on the Unified Team, the final team that would represent the former Soviet Union in at the Barcelona Games.

At the Olympics, Roza was given the unfavorable task of being the first gymnast to compete in the compulsory session. But she performed surprisingly much better than her coaches expected. In the optionals, she was again appointed as the leadoff hitter to set up high marks for her teammates. And that she did. Little Roza Galieva, all of 4"4 and 64 pounds, was having the best meet of her life. Unfortunately, her teammate Tatyana Gutsu was not performing as expected. Touted by her coaches to be the next great star, Gutsu had a mediocre compulsory and shockingly fell off the beam in team optionals. She made an effort to make the all-around, but as her routine finished, Gutsu wept, knowing her dreams of Olympic glory were finished. Roza, on the other hand, received kisses of congratulations from her teammates for the victory in the team competition and for making the all-around. Roza Galieva was surprising everybody in Barcelona. But there were more surprises in store.

The Unified Team coaches called a meeting and deliberated a long time. They knew that their best hope for gold was Tatyana Gutsu. However only three gymnasts per country were allowed, and Gutsu could not compete because she was the fourth best gymnast on the Unified Team. But a loophole in the rule allowed the coaches to make a substitution if there was just cause. The coaches decided to remove one of the three gymnasts who qualified ahead of Gutsu: Svetlana Boginskaya, Tatyana Lisenko, or Roza Galieva. This was not an easy choice for the coaches. They thought of taking out Boginskaya, but since she was so famous they were afraid of a scandal. So, when all was said and done, the coaches invited Gutsu and Galieva to a meeting. There, the coaches made the announcement that Roza Galieva would be taken out of the All-Around and be replaced by Gutsu. The head coach, Alexander Alexandrov, told Gutsu to give part of any money she received should she win the gold to Roza. Gutsu did in fact win the All-Around Gold and gave Roza $1500, half of what she received from the Ukranian Olympic Committee. The following two years Roza maintained the facade of deceit, stating in a March 1994 interview with Tatyana Lisenko of International Gymnast that her knee bothered her in Barcelona. But she couldn't lie anymore, and during an airing of the 1995 Atlanta Invite, both Roza and Alexander Alexandrov admitted the injury was a hoax. The bitterness still remains with Roza, and she has rarely spoken to Gutsu since Barcelona.

After the Barcelona Games, Roza competed for Uzbekistan for two years, but remained in Moscow to train in Moscow Dynamo with something called the Tess Troupe. The Tess Troupe paid money for athletes and scheduled them for exhibitons. Roza did compete in the 1993 Worlds and finished 6th. Then she was supposed to compete in the 1994 Worlds but the Uzbek officials messed up the entrance applications so Roza couldn't compete. The Tess Troupe dissolved but Roza made arrangements to train in Moscow Dynamo since the training conditions were superior than in Uzbekistan. Roza retired from competition in 1995 because she got tired of the work load, but then she got bored and asked Leonid Arkayev to compete for Russia. After a little doubt, Arkayev agreed and Roza got to be on the Russian team. There didn't appear to be any bad sentiments expressed by the other Russian girls with Roza's arrival on the team. Roza couldn't compete in the Worlds in Sabae, Japan because she wasn't a Russian citizen yet but made her debut as a Russian at the 1995 Subway Challenge. She competed in the 1996 Olympic Games where she won a Team Silver. After Atlanta she participated in The USA vs. The World in Houston and The Pro Team Championships in Cincinnati. She then traveled back to Europe for a three city Spain Gala tour in early November. Roza most recently competed in the DTB Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, where she placed 5th on the balance beam(please see the 'Updates' page).

Source: 'Baitova'