Biography
Almudena started rhythmic gymnastics at age 6, her mother originally wanted her daughter to do ballet but, after her family commented on her flexibility she enrolled the young Almudena in rhythmic gymnastics. She has been a member of the Spanish National Team since November 1994. She became the first Spanish gymnast in history competing in two olympic finals, Atlanta and Sydney, and she is also the only rhythmic gymnast to make the finals at four consecutive Olympic Games - Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
In June 2001 the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique announced that Almudena's "body-apparatus relationship" with ball was approved by the Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee. As the code describes the cid tostado element:
Starting position: on one knee, leg forward, ball held with the foot. large roll of the ball on both legs. Originality 0.10 (§ 2.6.5.)
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics her final position was 9th, a total score of 38.515 (Rope 9.700, Clubs 9.683, Ball 9.566, Ribbon 9.566) and again at the 2000 Sydney Olympics she finished in 9th, her total score 38.907 (Rope 9.750, Hoop 9.725, Ball 9.691, Ribbon 9.741). In Athens she qualified for the finals in 9th, In the finals she was placed 8th, her best ever placing at an olympics, with a total of 98.450 (Ribbon 23.425, Clubs 24.900, Ball 25.000, Hoop 25.125). She competed in the individual all-around in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She was 10th in the qualifying round and eighth in the final round with a total score of 68.100 (Rope: 17.000, Hoop: 17.000, Clubs: 17.150, Ribbon: 16.950).
She had one the longest career as an elite rhythmic gymnast. Almudena lives in Barcelona. Almudena holds a modelling contract with Nike and she has modelled for an underwear store, Love Store. She speaks Spanish, Basque and English. Almudena was one of the only few Western European gymnasts able to seriously compete against gymnasts from Eastern Europe.
Read more about this topic: Almudena Cid Tostado
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