Tara Dragas
| Tara Dragas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 17 February 2007 San Daniele del Friuli, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Rhythmic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Italy (2020-present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former countries represented |  Slovenia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Associazione Sportiva Udinese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Špela Dragaš | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tara Dragas (born 17 February 2007) is an Italian individual rhythmic gymnast[1] of Slovenian descent. She is the 2022 European ribbon junior silver medalist.
At the national level, she is the 2025 Italian all-around silver medalist, the 2022 Italian Junior champion and a two-time (2020, 2021) Italian Junior silver medalist.[2]
Personal life
[edit]Her mother, Špela Dragaš, is her coach and also the head coach of the Associazione Sportiva Udinese, where Dragas trains.[3] Her father, Sasha Dragas, is a singer and actor. She has an older brother, Marko. Her family comes from the Slovene minority in Italy. She fluently speaks three languages: Italian, Slovenian, and English.
Career
[edit]Drags took up rhythmic gymnastics at the age of four at the Associazione Sportiva Udinese. In her younger years, she also competed in Slovenia, representing KRG Narodni dom. She won the Slovenian National Championship title three times (2015-2017) in the girls' category.[4][5] Afterward, she began participating in Italian national competitions.
Junior
[edit]Dragas debuted as a member of the national team in November 2020 at a bilateral competition held between Italy and Germany in Desio.[6]
In 2022, she won 3 gold medals at the 5th edition of Comegym tournament[7] and two gold medals at the international tournament in Portimão.[8] She represented Italy at the Junior European Championships in Tel Aviv and won the silver medal in the ribbon final. Together with Alice Taglietti, she placed 5th in the team competition.[9] Later in the year, she participated in the Tart Cup in Brno, where she won four golds and a silver medal.[10]
Senior
[edit]In 2023, Dragas made her senior international debut at the World Cup Sofia, along with veterans Milena Baldassarri and Sofia Raffaeli.[11] Ultimately, she placed 19th place in the all-around competition.[12] In June, Dragas competed at the 2023 Italian National Championships, her first as a senior, and finished in 7th place in the all-around competition.[13] The next day, she won a silver medal with clubs and a bronze medal in the hoop final.[14]
In 2024, she attended more international competitions. On 19–21 April, she competed at Baku World Cup and placed 11th in the all-around. She advanced into two apparatus finals, finishing 4th in hoop and 6th in ball.[15] She next competed at World Challenge Cup Portimao in Portugal, where she took 13th place in the all-around. She qualified to the all final and ended in 6th place.
In May, Dragas was selected to represent Italy at the 2024 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, together with Sofia Raffaeli and Milena Baldassarri. They won the silver medal in the team competition. On 8 June, Dragaš competed at the 2024 Italian National Championships and finished in 4th place in the all-around.[16] She also won the gold medal in the ribbon final, silver medals in hoop and clubs and bronze in the ball final. In July, she competed at Cluj-Napoca World Challenge Cup and placed 14th in the all-around.[17]
In 2025, Dragas began her international season competing at the Grand Prix Thiais in late March. She won the silver medal in the all-around behind Taisiia Onofriichuk and qualified for all four apparatus finals.[18] She won silver medals in the clubs and ribbon finals and bronze medals with hoop and ball.[19] On 18-20 April, she competed at the Baku World Cup, where she finished in 11th place in the all-around and advanced into two apparatus finals. She won bronze in the ribbon final, which was her first World Cup medal.[20][21] On 1-4 May, Dragas competed at the 2025 European Cup Baku, where she won a bronze medal with hoop and silver medals with clubs and ribbon.
In June, Dragas was selected to represent Italy, along with Alice Taglietti and Sofia Raffaeli, at the 2025 European Championships in Tallinn. Together with the senior group, they won the gold medal in the team competition.[22] She qualified to her first all-around final, where she ended in 5th place. On 14 June, she competed at the 2025 Italian National Championships and won the silver medal in the all-around. In a tight race with Raffaeli, she lost by 0.35 points.[23] The day after, she won gold medals in the clubs and ribbon finals and silver in hoop and ball behind Raffaeli.[24]
Routine music information
[edit]| Year | Apparatus | Music Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Hoop | Wake up (feat. XEAH by Tommee Profitt |
| Ball (first) | I Want to Know What Love Is by Mariah Carey | |
| Ball (second) | Vranjanka (Live version) by Jelena Tomašević | |
| Clubs | Caravan by Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra | |
| Ribbon | Cria Da Ivete (Ao Vivo) by Ivete Sangalo | |
| 2024 | Hoop | Guide Me Home by Freddie Mercury |
| Ball | Como La Flor (feat. Mayre Martinez) from Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox | |
| Clubs | Turn Down for What by DJ Snake, Lil John, Prrrum and Rompe (Instrumental) by Daddy Yankee, Cosculluela | |
| Ribbon | Fato, mori dušmanke by Louis | |
| 2023 | Hoop | Craw-Fever by Elvis Presley |
| Ball | SOS by Dimash | |
| Clubs | Quantum Utopia (feat. Eugene Hütz) by Goran Bregović | |
| Ribbon | Vegas Rehearsal/That's All Right by Austin Butler and Elvis Presley | |
| 2022 | Hoop | Beauty and the beast (Cinematic Piano/ Cello) cover by Jennifer Thomas and Armen Ksajikian |
| Ball | SOS by Dimash | |
| Clubs | Opera by Gabry Ponte & La Diva | |
| Ribbon | Stalker's Tango by Autoheart | |
| 2021 | Hoop | |
| Ball | ||
| Clubs | Rave de Favela by Major Lazer, MC Lan, BEAM | |
| Ribbon | Caravan by Raphael Gualazzi |
Competitive highlights
[edit](Team competitions in seniors are held only at the World Championships, Europeans and other Continental Games.)
| International: Senior | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2025 | European Championships | 5th | 1st | 10th (Q) | 6th | 5th | |
| European Cup Baku | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | ||||
| World Cup Baku | 11th | 11th (Q) | 27th (Q) | 6th | 3rd | ||
| Grand Prix Thiais | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | ||
| 2024 | European Championships | 2nd | 15th (Q) | ||||
| World Challenge Cup Cluj-Napoca | 14th | 16th (Q) | 20th (Q) | 10th (Q) | 17th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Portimao | 13th | 14th (Q) | 6th | 10th (Q) | 30th (Q) | ||
| World Cup Baku | 11th | 4th | 6th | 18th (Q) | 18th (Q) | ||
| 2023 | MTM Ljubljana Tournament | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | |
| World Cup Sofia | 19th | 15th (Q) | 20th (Q) | 21st (Q) | 24th (Q) | ||
| International: Junior | |||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2022 | IT Tart Cup | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | |
| Junior European Championships | 5th | 4th | 2nd | ||||
| IT Portimao | 1st | 1st | |||||
| National: Senior | |||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2025 | Italian National Championships | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | |
| 2024 | Italian National Championships | 4th | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | |
| 2023 | Italian National Championships | 7th | 2nd | 13th (Q) | 3rd | 15th (Q) | |
| National: Junior | |||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2022 | Italian National Championships | 1st | |||||
| 2021 | Italian National Championships | 2nd | |||||
| 2020 | Italian National Championships | 2nd | |||||
| Q = Qualifications (Did not advance to Event Final due to the 2 gymnast per country rule, only Top 8 highest score); WR = World Record; WD = Withdrew; NT = No Team Competition; OC = Out of Competition(competed but scores not counted for qualifications/results) | |||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "DRAGAS Tara - FIG Athlete Profile". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "Asu ai vertici della ginnastica ritmica, Tara Dragas vice campionessa italiana junior" (in Italian). 29 November 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ "La figlia d'arte Tara Dragas già a medaglia È lei la promessa della ritmica italiana". Messaggero Veneto (in Italian). 7 May 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSTVO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI 2016 INDIVIDUALNO" (in Slovenian). 15 May 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ "DRŽAVNO PRVENSTVO V RITMIČNI GIMNASTIKI 2017 - INDIVIDUALNE SESTAVE" (in Slovenian). 24 June 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ "Desio – Road to Kiev 2020, il bilaterale di Ritmica tra Italia-Germania verso gli Europei". www.federginnastica.it. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "Mersin - Arriva l'acuto anche dalla Ritmica. Taglietti e Dragas trionfano nell'All Around per Team". www.federginnastica.it. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "2022 Portimão Results" (PDF). ginastica.org.
- ^ "2022 European Championships Result Book" (PDF). europeangymnastics.
- ^ "TART CUP 2022". rgform.eu.
- ^ "ASU - Tara Dragaš called up with the seniors for the World Cup in Sofia".
- ^ "SOFIA WORLD CUP 2023 - RESULTS" (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ "Ginnastica ritmica, Campionato Assoluto 2023: Raffaeli trionfa a Folgaria e concede il bis". Sportface.it (in Italian). 10 June 2023.
- ^ "Folgaria - FLASH NEWS: Raffaeli di un altro pianeta. Baldassarri, Dragas e Sella incantano nelle finali Assolute". Federginnastica.it (in Italian). 10 June 2023.
- ^ "World Cup Baku Results Book" (PDF). 21 April 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
- ^ "Ginnastica ritmica, Assoluti Folgaria 2024: Sofia Raffaeli concede il tris nel Concorso Generale". Sportface.it (in Italian). 8 June 2024.
- ^ "Moov Leasing World Challenge Cup Cluj-Napoca Results". Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "2025 All-Around" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2025.
- ^ "Thiais - Argento All around per una super Tara Dragas al Grand Prix francese" [Thiais - All around silver for a super Tara Dragas at the French Grand Prix]. Italian Gymnastics Federation (in Italian). 30 March 2025. Retrieved 30 March 2025.
- ^ "Baku - Tara credici, sei una stella! Dragas, bronzo al nastro in Coppa del Mondo" [Baku - Tara believe it, you are a star! Dragas, bronze in ribbon at the World Cup]. Italian Gymnastics Federation (in Italian). 20 April 2025. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
- ^ "Tara Dragas sul podio a Baku, bronzo nel nastro" [Tara Dragas on the podium in Baku, bronze in ribbon]. Rai News (in Italian). 21 April 2025. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
- ^ "Tallinn - Italia campione d'Europa, storico oro nel Team Ranking. Spagna regina all-around. Farfalle in finale ai nastri" [Tallinn - Italy European champion, historic gold in the Team Ranking. Spain all-around queen. Butterfly final at the ribbons]. Italian Gymnastics Federation (in Italian). 7 June 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
- ^ "Folgaria - Poker assoluto di Raffaeli. Dragas incalza. Anche Paolini sul podio del Trentino. Finali in diretta su Sportface". Italian Gymnastics Federation (in Italian). 14 June 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ "Folgaria – Raffaeli e Dragas regine delle finali. Uno show assoluto! Albachiara stella d'Insieme" [Folgaria – Raffaeli and Dragas queens of the finals. An absolute show! Albachiara star of the groups]. Italian Gymnastics Federation. 15 June 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2025.