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NASTASYA GENERALOVA

In conversation with Alison Beckner

Photography by Beau Grealy – Styling by Rita Zebdi

Nastasya Generalova is a rhythmic gymnast on the United States National Team. She is 18 years old, a Los Angeles native, half Russian and half African American. She started the sport as a young child at her mother’s encouragement and as a way to embrace her culture. She is the only woman of color at the elite level in her sport, a factor that, combined with her particularly athletic build, proved to be a challenge that she has used to her advantage by infusing the elegance of rhythmic gymnastics with her “dramatic, powerful and fierce” signature style.

 

On the challenges of the sport and career path… and overcoming them 

There have been many challenges faced in the course of my career: financial, weight management, endless hours working nonstop, performing in front of crowds. I feel like once you have stepped