Viktoria Mazur of Ukraine announced her retirement in the autumn of 2017, shortly after the World Championships in Pesaro, Italy.
Career
Born in Luhansk on 15 October 1995, Mazur began competing internationally as a junior in 2007 and won team bronze with Ukraine at the junior European Championships in 2008. She made her senior debut in 2010 and competed for the national team both as an individual and as a member of the group. At the 2012 London Olympics she placed fifth with the Ukrainian group.
The last competition
At the 2017 World Championships in Pesaro she placed 17th in the all-around final. In an interview with the Ukrainian sports site sport.ua after her retirement, she described her final competition day, 1 September 2017, as a happy ending rather than a sad one, and thanked her coaches Albina Deriugina, Irina Deriugina and Irina Blokhina.
Why her career is worth remembering
Mazur belonged to the Deriugina school in Kyiv, one of the most influential rhythmic programmes in Europe. Moving between individual and group work is unusual at senior level and shows the range that school demanded.
Related: our Rhythmic Gymnastics page.
