If you study the list of Olympic champions in gymnastics, you may be surprised to find that almost a third of all gold medals were collected by representatives of one European country - Romania. In our article you will find information about the most famous Romanian gymnasts, with photos and biographies, as well as learn about the main achievements of these athletes.
History of Romanian gymnastics: first victories
Gymnastics for Romanians is the same as football for the Spaniards or basketball for the Americans. A matter of honor. And especially the magnificent laurels are collected precisely by Romanian gymnasts. They won the Olympic medals in the history, no less, 59 pieces. Let's see why or to whom the Romanian gymnastics managed to soar so high in the sports world.
For the first time, Romanian gymnasts appeared at the 1952 Olympics, where they took a rather modest ninth place. The first star of Romania in this sport was Elena Leushtyan. In 1954, at the World Championships in Rome, she took an honorable fifth place in the all-around. She also won the first “bronze” for her country at the Olympic Games in Melbourne two years later.
After that, Romanian gymnastics begins to degrade. By the mid-60s, the team as such was no longer there. The gymnasts from Romania did not go to the Games in Mexico City (1968), despite the fact that at that time there were no preliminary qualifications. Meanwhile, a program to develop sports and rhythmic gymnastics is beginning to be introduced in the country itself. Three cities became its centers - Onesti, Brasov and Cluj-Napoca.
In the late 60s, the spouses Bela and Marta Caroia took patronage of gymnastics in socialist Romania. It was they who discerned in a six-year-old fragile girl from the town of Onesti a future star of world magnitude.
The heyday of Romanian gymnastics
In 1974, Bela Caroyi was appointed head coach of the Romanian national team. By that time, he had prepared a powerful team of young gymnasts, the core of which was a talented girl Nadia Komanechi. She was distinguished by phenomenal stability and the implementation of extremely complex combinations. Her first adult competition was the 1975 European Championship. On the platform in Skien, 13-year-old Nadia Comaneci won in three rounds and in the all-around, losing only in floor exercises.
Later Comanechi became a real sports symbol of Romania. In the world gymnastic arena, in fact, she was opposed by only one athlete - Nelly Kim from the USSR. By the way, the Romanian gymnast Nadia Comanechi shared numerous medals and awards with her.
In the photo below is the small Transylvanian city of Virgo. It is here that the main center of sports and rhythmic gymnastics of Romania is located. He shifted to this old town with another head coach - Adrian Goryak. In the 80s in the country there was a real boom in gymnastics. Parents massively took their girls to gymnastic schools so that they were “like Nadia”. Among them were new future stars.
The current state of Romanian gymnastics and its prospects
In the 2000s, three stars shone in the horizon of Romanian gymnastics - Sandra Izbasha, Monica Roche and Catalina Ponor. They should be replaced by Larisa Yordake. But this athlete was too traumatic. And she, alas, does not possess the necessary fighting character. Therefore, the current generation of Romanian gymnasts looks somewhat faded.
Nevertheless, the "forge of champions" in Virgo continues to work. On the way, 17-year-old Andrei Iridon, 16-year-old Denis Golgota and other talents. Therefore, the Romanian gymnastics definitely has a future.
Romanian gymnasts - Olympic champions
Athletes from Romania have been performing at the Olympic Games in artistic gymnastics since 1952. For all this time they won 24 gold medals. Below in the table you will find a complete list of the names of Romanian gymnasts, who at the Olympics were the first in a particular discipline.
Athlete Name | The total number of gold medals |
Nadia Komanechi | 5 |
Catherine Sabo | 4 |
Daniela Silivash | 3 |
Simone Amanar | 3 |
Catalina Ponor | 3 |
Sandra Izbasha | 2 |
Monica Roshu | 2 |
Lavinia Milosovici | 2 |
Nadia Komanechi
Nadia Comăneci (born in 1961) is one of the most titled athletes in Romania. She became the first gymnast in the world to receive the highest score from international judges at international competitions - 10.0. Included in the list of “100 greatest Romanians” at number 10.
Nadia left sports in 1981. In the fall of 1989, shortly before the overthrow of the Ceausescu regime, she fled the country to the United States, then emigrated to Canada. In 1996, Comaneci married American gymnast Bart Conner. In 2006, the couple had a son, Dylan. Nadia Comaneci is a citizen of two states (USA and Romania). Today she runs the Norman Sports Academy of Gymnastics and is involved in charity work.
Major sporting achievements: nine-time European champion, two-time world champion, five-time Olympic champion.
Catherine Sabo
Ecaterina Szabo (born 1967) is a Romanian gymnast of Hungarian descent. Like Nadia Komanechi, she is a pupil of the coach Karoyi. In 2008, Catherine Szabo accused Marta and Bela Karoyi of using physical violence against her and other athletes.
Major sports achievements: two-time European champion, two-time world champion, four-time Olympic champion.
Catalina Ponor
Cătălina Ponor (born in 1987) is a Romanian gymnast from the coastal city of Constanta. Has been engaged in gymnastics since four years. She was invited to the national team by coach Octavian Belo. The most successful and productive athlete performed on a log.
In December 2007, Catalina was forced to retire from a big sport due to a serious injury. But in 2011, she returned to active training and even helped her team win bronze medals at the 2012 Olympics in London. In 2017, the athlete announced her final completion of her career.
Major sporting achievements: eight-time European champion, three-time Olympic champion.
Octavian Belo
Talking about women's gymnastics, one cannot at least casually mention one brilliant Romanian trainer - Octavian Belu. He is the current head coach of the Romania women's team.
In 2007, Belo was recognized as the most successful and productive trainer in the world. He has won 279 medals, 16 of which are Olympic gold. Under the guidance of a coach, the Romanian women's team five times became a world champion and twice an Olympic champion. Octavian Belo brought up a galaxy of powerful Romanian gymnasts. Among them are Sandra Izbasha, Monica Roche, Catalina Ponor and Larisa Yordache.
Finally
Romanian gymnasts remained among the world leaders for almost forty years. For several decades, this country has sent to the world and European championships superbly trained athletes. However, the year 2016 was a failure for the women's Romanian team in gymnastics: only one athlete managed to break through to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro - Catalina Ponor. But the fans from Romania do not despair, because the stars who have left for a well-deserved rest are already preparing a new replacement. One can only hope that the new generation of Romanian gymnasts will be no less talented than the previous ones.