Aliya Nurgayanovna (Nikolayevna) Garaeva (Garayeva), born 1 January 1988 in Yekaterinburg, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a retired Azerbaijani individual rhythmic gymnast. She represented Russia, and Azerbaijan (2006-2012). She is the 2011 World All-around bronze medalist, a two-time European All-around bronze medalist, two time Grand Prix Final All-around bronze medalist and five-time Azerbaijanii National champion. She was one of very few gymnasts not representing Russia to ever been trained by Irina Viner, famous head coach of Russia's national team.
Aliya Garayeva
Aliya Garayeva with ball
2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
The 2011 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships was held in Montpellier, France, from September 19–25, 2011 at the Arena Montpellier. Only the top 24 groups from the 2010 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were allowed to take part in the group competition this time. These championships were the first qualifying event for the 2012 Olympics which was held in London. In the group all-around competition, the top 6 teams qualified directly for the Group Competition at the 2012 Olympics, while teams placed 7th to 12th will get a second chance to qualify at the London test event in January 2012 for additional four spots. In Individual all-around, the top 15 gymnasts in the World Championships earned a place in the Olympic competition for their respective countries with further 5 places to be decided at the test event.
Arena Montpellier, where the competition took place