Carolina Rodríguez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Carolina Rodríguez
Personal information
Full name	Carolina Rodríguez Ballesteros
Country represented	Spain
Born	(1986-05-24) 24 May 1986 (age 39) León, Spain
Discipline	R G
Level	Senior Elite
Years on national team	2001 - 2016
Club	Spanish Team Ritmo
Head coach(es)	Ruth Fernández Menéndez
Assistant coach(es)	Nuria Castaño
Choreographer	Dagmara Brown
Retired	yes
Medal record Rhythmic Gymnastics Representing  Spain Mediterranean Games Gold 2013 Mersin All-around Bronze 2009 Pescara All-around

Carolina Rodríguez Ballesteros (born May 24, 1986, in León) is a Spanish rhythmic gymnast who has now retired. She was a very experienced athlete in her sport. Carolina started her professional career in the early 2000s. She competed in three Olympic Games. In 2004, she was part of the Spanish team in Athens. In 2012, she competed as an individual in London, finishing 14th. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she again competed alone and reached the final, placing 8th in the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around.

Her Gymnastics Journey

Starting Out

Carolina Rodríguez began rhythmic gymnastics when she was seven years old. She once said, "Since the first time I saw this sport I fell in love with it." She competed for the Ritmo club. Her coaches were Nina Vitrichenko, Ruth Fernández Menéndez, and Nuria Castaño Fernández. Carolina trained for about 25 hours every week. Her big dream was to win an Olympic medal.

In 2001, she became the Junior National Vice-Champion at the World Championships in Madrid. She also won the National Champion title three times in individual performances at the Spanish Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. In 1999, she placed fourth with the Junior Group at the European Championships. That same year, her Junior Group team won first place at the International Tournament of Portimao.

In 2009, Carolina won her first World Cup medal, a bronze in the ball event, in Corbeil-Essonnes. She also earned a bronze medal in the all-around competition at the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara. At the 2009 European Championships, she was chosen as the winner of the public vote.

Big Successes (2013-2016)

The year 2013 was a very successful one for Carolina. She won the gold medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin. She beat gymnasts from Greece and France to take the top spot.

In 2014, Carolina achieved her best result in the World Cup series at the Lisboa World Cup, finishing 4th in the all-around. She also won a bronze medal in clubs. Later that year, she competed at the European Championships, finishing 10th. Carolina announced her plan to keep competing until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the 2014 World Championships, she reached a career high, finishing 10th in the all-around finals. She also made it to an event final (in ribbon) for the first time at the World Championships.

In 2015, Carolina continued to compete strongly. She finished 9th in the All-around finals at the 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart.

In March 2016, Carolina competed at the MTM Tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where she won a silver medal in the ball event. In June, she finished 9th at the European Championships. Her final competition was at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She qualified for the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around final and finished in 8th place. After the Olympics, Carolina announced that she was retiring from competitive sports.

Routine Music Information

See also

In Spanish: Carolina Rodríguez (gimnasta) para niños