Alex Kiroi-Bogatyreva

Having a mum who was a Dancesports enthusiast whilst competing in ballroom and Latin dancing contests, it was perhaps no surprise that Alex Kiroi-Bogatyreva started early in kinder gym. 

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Alex moved with her family to Melbourne when she was 12 months old.

She started gymnastics in 2005, at the age of three, when she was enrolled into kinder gym and acrobatics classes. Three years later in 2008 she started rhythmic gymnastics, where she  fell in love with the sport. 

“I started doing ballet before moving into gymnastics and progressing to rhythmic gymnastics when I was six,” says Alex. 

"It was my parents' way of developing discipline, determination and work ethic in me. At 11, I won my first international competition in Spain and that was the moment where everything lined up and I knew I wanted to pursue this sport to the max." 

Alex had a successful junior career, consistently making the podium at the Australian championships. She went on to be the Australian all around rhythmic gymnastics champion in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. 

In 2017, she won gold in the all-around, club, hoop and ball at the Luxembourg Cup. Her move to senior competition saw her win gold in the ribbon, silver in the ball and bronze in both the clubs and all around at the Australia Cup in 2018 and her selection for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, where she won bronze in both the all around and ball events.

Despite the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex continued to train and compete at the highest level wherever possible and in 2022, she added a complete set of medals at her second Commonwealth Games in Birmingham: gold in clubs, silver in the team event and bronze in the all around. That year she also won bronze medals in hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and all around at the Maccabiah Games.

Alex was the only Australian individual representative at the 2023 rhythmic gymnastics world championships in Valencia, Spain. She finished with a ranking of 37th out of the 82 competitors. 

In 2024, she competed at the European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, which doubled as the Oceania Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. She won the all around title and claimed an Oceania qualification quota spot for the Paris Olympics. 

Alex spends much of her time training in Baku, Azerbaijan, which has some of the world’s best gymnastic training facilities 

She is studying remotely for a law degree through Melbourne’s Monash University and aspires to work in sports law. 

"Sport has taught me organisation, patience and work ethic, which in turn allow me to compartmentalise study, training and recovery,” she says. “If you really want something to be done, you'll find a way, not an excuse."