Lilia Akhaimova

In 2015 Akhaimova only competed at national competitions. At the Russian national championships she placed 15th in the all-around and at the Russian Cup she finished 7th. At the 2016 Russian national championships Akhaimova finished 12th.

Akhaimova competed at the 2017 Summer Universiade, earning team gold, as well as the silver on vault and bronze on floor.

On 20 July, Akhaimova was named to the Russian team to compete at the 2018 European Championships alongside Angelina Melnikova, Angelina Simakova, Irina Alexeeva, and Uliana Perebinosova.[5] They won gold in the team final and individually Akhaimova placed fifth on vault.[6]

On September 29, Akhaimova was named on the nominative team to compete at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, Qatar alongside Alexeeva, Melnikova, Aliya Mustafina, and Simakova.[7] On October 17, the Worlds team was officially announced and was unchanged from the nominative team.[8]

Akhaimova at the 2018 European Championships

At Worlds, Akhaimova competed on vault and floor during the qualification rounds and was tasked with competing for the same two events during the team final. Despite crashing her Rudi vault in the final, Akhaimova rallied with a strong floor exercise to help Russia win the silver medal behind the United States and ahead of China.

Akhaimova also competed in the floor final, where she placed seventh.

In July Akhaimova competed at the 2019 Summer Universiade alongside Tatiana Nabieva and Perebinosova. In the team final, Akhaimova contributed scores on vault, beam, and floor, helping Russian win the silver behind Japan.[9] Individually Akhaimova won bronze in the all-around behind Hitomi Hatakeda of Japan and teammate Perebinosova.[10] The following day, she won the silver medal on vault, behind Marina Nekrasova of Azerbaijan and just ahead of teammate Nabieva.[11] Despite qualifying in first to the floor final, Akhaimova finished sixth in the final after counting a fall on her piked double Arabian. The Russians were the most decorated female artistic gymnastics team at the Universiade, winning eight medals. They were also the only team to win medals on every event.

In August, Akhaimova competed at the Russian Cup. After two days of competition she finished fourth in the all-around competition, behind Vladislava Urazova, Angelina Melnikova, and Elena Gerasimova.[12] On the first day of event finals Akhaimova won gold on vault, finishing ahead of Melnikova. On the second day of event finals she won bronze on floor exercise, finishing behind junior competitors Urazova and Gerasimova. Shortly after the conclusion of the Russian Cup, Akhaimova was named to the nominative team for the 2019 World Championships alongside Melnikova, Daria Spiridonova, Anastasia Agafonova, Angelina Simakova (later replaced by Maria Paseka),[13] and Aleksandra Shchekoldina.[14]

During qualifications, she helped Russia qualify to the team final in third place behind the United States, and China. Individually, she qualified to the all-around, vault, and floor exercise finals. Despite Valentina Rodionenko's, the head coach of the Russian Women's gymnastics team, low expectations for the team,[15] they won the silver medal in the team final with Akhaimova contributing scores on three apparatuses.[16] During the all-around final Akhaimova fell numerous times and finished 22nd in the competition.

In November, Akhaimova competed at Elite Gym Massilia where she placed fourth in the all-around and second on vault, behind Jennifer Gadirova of Great Britain.[17]

In January, it was announced that Akhaimova would represent Russia at the American Cup, taking place on March 7.[18] However, in late February Akhaimova and Nikita Nagornyy announced on Instagram that Russia withdrew from the upcoming competition due to the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.[19] In late September, it was announced that Akhaimova would be competing at an upcoming competition in Hiroshima to take place in November alongside Angelina Melnikova, Elena Gerasimova, and Yana Vorona.[20] However, she later withdrew due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Akhaimova competed at the Russian National Championships in March; however, she withdrew from finals after sustaining a minor ankle injury.[21] She next competed at the Russian Cup in June. During the all-around final, she finished fourth behind Viktoria Listunova, Vladislava Urazova, and Angelina Melnikova. Akhaimova placed first on vault and third on floor exercise.[22] She was selected to represent the Russia at the 2020 Summer Olympics. However, it was undecided whether she would join Melnikova, Listunova, and Urazova on the four-person team or compete as an individual.[23] In July, it was decided that Akhaimova would be a part of the team and Elena Gerasimova would compete as an individual alongside Anastasia Ilyankova.

At the Olympic Games, Akhaimova qualified to the vault event final. Additionally, she helped the Russian Olympic Committee qualify to the team final in a surprise first place, ahead of the United States team. During the team final, Akhaimova only competed on vault. After the first rotation, American team leader Simone Biles withdrew for mental health reasons. Although Melnikova and Urazova fell off the balance beam, the Russian team performed well on all other routines and finished in first place, over three points ahead of the second place American team.[24]

Akhaimova announced her retirement from the sport in June.[25]