Athlete of the Week – Gymnast Catalina Ponor
The Romanian womens gymnastics team last week participated in the European Championships in Berne, Switzerland.
Florin Orban, 13.06.2016, 13:34
The Romanian gymnasts again failed to meet expectations coming sixth in the nations standings. The Romanian side lacked two major athletes, Larisa Iordache, who sustained hand injuries and Diana Bulimar who is also recovering from injuries.
The situation improved in the apparatus finals, where Romania reaped two bronze medals through Catalina Ponor in the beam and floor events. Russian Alia Mustafina walked away with gold in the beam event, while French Marine Boyer got silver. Swiss Giulia Steingruber became the gold medallist in the floor event, while Elissa Downie of Britain ranked second.
For the two medals she won in Switzerland, Radio Romania International has designated Catalina Ponor the athlete of the week. Catalina Ponor was born on August 20th in Constanta, south-eastern Romania, and took up gymnastics at the age of 4 at the local club Farul. In 2002 she got selected and started training in Deva, central Romania, and a year later she joined the countrys national gymnastics team. She compelled international recognition at the Worlds Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California, the USA after she had become triple silver medallist with the team and in the floor and beam events. The lackluster results she obtained before the Anaheim competition were not indicative of her full potential. Before Anaheim, Ponor only reaped bronze in the beam event of Romanias national championship and silver in Romanias International Championships the same year.
Her first notable performance came at the European Championships in Amsterdam in 2004, where she got three gold medals after the pattern in Anaheim. The same pattern was maintained at the Athens Olympics in the summer of 2004. With three gold medals, Catalina Ponor was the best gymnast in Romanias delegation and the worlds best gymnast in 2004.
She obtained other notable results, such as gold in the beam event at the European Championships in 2005 and 2006 and bronze with the team at the World Championships in Stuttgart in 2007.
Catalina Ponor withdrew from competitions but after a four-year recess, in 2011 she resumed training and in 2012 she won gold again with the Romanian team at the European Championships in Brussels. Ponor reaped gold in the beam event and silver in the floor competitions. Larisa Iordache became gold and silver medallist in the floor and beam event respectively. At the London Olympics in 2012, Catalina Ponor won silver in the floor event and bronze with the Romanian team.
