Evita Griskenas

Evita Griskenas (born December 3, 2000) is an American individual rhythmic gymnast.[3][4] She is a current member of the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics National Team.[3] Evita has won multiple medals in international competition representing both North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center[1] and the USA National Team.[5] At the USA national level, Evita is the three-time All-Around silver medalist at the USA Senior National Championships (2017–19)[3] and the USA Junior All-Around National Champion in 2015.[3] In August 2019, Evita was recognized for having won the most medals by any single athlete in any sport at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru,[6] winning four gold medals (including the All-Around gold) and one bronze medal. In September 2019, Evita secured one of two Olympic spots for USA for Tokyo 2020 by finishing 8th All-Around at the 2019 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.[7]

Evita Griskenas
Griskenas at Tokyo Disneyland in 2018
Personal information
Full nameEvita Griskenas
Country represented United States
Born (2000-12-03) December 3, 2000
Chicago, Illinois, United States
HometownOrland Park, Illinois
DisciplineRhythmic gymnastics
ClubNorth Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center [1]
Head coach(es)Natalia Klimouk
Assistant coach(es)Angelina Yovcheva
World ranking8
2019 FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships All-Around Results [2]
Medal record
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
2019 Lima All-around
2019 Lima Hoop
2019 Lima Ball
2019 Lima Ribbon
2019 Lima Clubs
Pan American Championships
2017 Daytona Beach Team
2017 Daytona Beach All-around
2017 Daytona Beach Hoop
2017 Daytona Beach Ball
2017 Daytona Beach Clubs
2017 Daytona Beach Ribbon

Rhythmic Gymnastics Career

Senior Career Highlights

In her only competition in 2020, Evita placed 4th All-Around at the Grand Prix Brno,[8] in Brno, Czech Republic. She qualified for all four event finals, and was awarded the bronze medal for Ball.

Evita was the highest ranked American gymnast at the 2019 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan[7] in September 2019, finishing in 8th place All-Around. Evita secured one of two Olympic spots for Team USA for Tokyo 2020, along with teammate Laura Zeng.

Evita was the most decorated athlete in any sport at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru in 2019.[6] She won five medals for Team USA, including gold in the All-Around; three gold medals in Ball, Hoop and Ribbon; and a bronze medal for Clubs.

In both 2018 and 2019, Evita won the All-Around silver medal at the USA National Championships.[3]

  • In 2019, Evita won gold in the Ribbon final, and the silver medals in both Hoop and Ball.
  • In 2018, she won the gold in Ball and the silver in Hoop.

Evita advanced to the All-Around finals of the 2018 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The previous year, at her first World Championships, Evita advanced to the All-Around, Ribbon and Hoop finals at the 2017 World Championships in Pesaro, Italy.

Evita Griskenas won the All-Around gold medal and gold in all four apparatus finals at the 2017 Pan American Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Daytona, Florida.[9]

Junior Career Highlights

Evita was the USA Junior National Champion in 2015, winning 1st place All-Around.[10]

In February 2015, Evita finished 3rd All-Around at the 2015 Moscow Grand Prix Junior International Tournament, Moscow, Russia.[11]

Notable Accomplishments
  • Evita was named one of ten finalists for the prestigious 90th Annual AAU James E. Sullivan Award in March 2020.[12]
  • In December 2019, Evita was honored as the NextGen Female (U-20)[13] at the inaugural Panam Sports Awards.[14] Winners were chosen via a global public voting process after more than 40 nominees were selected by the Panam Sports committee.
  • Evita won the most medals by any athlete[6] at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, including four gold medals and one bronze.
  • Evita made history as part of the best-ever USA World Championship team, finishing 7th in the 2018 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. The team included Laura Zeng and Camilla Feeley.[15]
  • Evita qualified for 6 event finals out of 8 during the 2019 World Cup series, and finished 6th All-Around at two events.

Personal life

Evita Griskenas was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Orland Park, Illinois where she attended Carl Sandburg High School,[3] graduating in 2019. Evita is a full-time freshman at Columbia University in New York City.

Evita is currently training for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics at the North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center.[1] Evita started ballroom dancing, along with ballet, at the age of 4 — with Russian, Bulgarian and Cuban instructors — to help her rhythmic career.

Evita's parents, Sigitas and Olga Griskenas, are immigrants from Lithuania and served as Lithuanian national fitness team coaches until 2000. Both were Lithuanian National Champions in Fitness. Sigitas was twice the World Fitness Champion (1997 and 1999), and Vice Mr. Fitness Universe in 2000. Olga finished fifth place in Fitness Aerobics in 1997 and 1998. Both Olga and Sigitas were World Fitness Champions in Couples in Syros, Greece, in 2000.[16]

Evita has one younger brother, Nathan, who does archery.

References
  1. "North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center".
  2. "Results for 37th FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Baku (AZE)".
  3. "USA Gymnastics Athlete Page".
  4. "F.I.G. Athlete Evita Griskenas".
  5. "Team USA - Evita Griskenas, Rhythmic Gymnastics".
  6. "80 Pan American Records and a New World Record: The Surprising Numbers from Lima 2019".
  7. "37th FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships".
  8. "Grand Prix Brno / Tart Cup 2020".
  9. "The Week In Team USA Results: Oct. 10-16".
  10. "2015 USA Gymnastics Championships Meet Results" (PDF).
  11. "Griskenas claims all-around bronze at Moscow Junior International Tournament".
  12. "Olympic Hopefuls and National Champions Named as Finalists for 90th AAU James E. Sullivan Award presented by Eastbay".
  13. "Evita Griskenas at Panam Sports Awards 2019".
  14. "Sporting Icons Crowned at Inaugural Panam Sports Awards".
  15. "Feeley, Griskenas, Zeng unite for USA's best-ever team finish at Rhythmic Worlds".
  16. "World Fitness Federation / World Body Building Federation".
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