Alina Maratovna Kabaeva (Russian: Али́на Мара́товна Каба́ева; Tatar: Älinä Marat qızı Qabayeva, Әлинә Марат кызы Кабаева; born 12 May 1983) is a Russian Honored Master of Sports, retired rhythmic gymnast, and politician. Between 2007 and 2014 she was a State Duma deputy from the United Russia party. Since September 2014 she is the chairwoman of the board of directors of the National Media Group.
Kabaeva is Russia's second most successful rhythmic gymnast after Evgenia Kanaeva. She is also one of the most decorated gymnasts in the history of rhythmic gymnastics with two Olympic medals, 14 world championship medals and 25 European championship medals.
Kabaeva, the daughter of a Tatar father and Russian mother, was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, in the Soviet Union on 12 May 1983. She started rhythmic gymnastics there at the age of 3 with coach Margarita Samuilovna. Her father Marat Kabayev was a professional football (soccer) player and the family was constantly following him to different places in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. At first, many coaches did not like Alina because they considered her "too heavy" and "ugly" to be a rhythmic gymnast, none of them seemed to consider her a rhythmic gymnast of any particular talent. In her young teens she moved to Russia, where her mother took her to the Russian head coach Irina Viner, who liked her from the start.