Romania at the Olympic Games – Cătălina Ponor

Cătălina Ponor has been dubbed the greatest Romanian gymnast of the new millennium

Florin Orban, 11.08.2020, 13:45

Few top gymnasts boast long careers. Normally, those who take part in two consecutive editions of the Olympic Games can be considered lucky. Those with top-level careers spanning more than 10 years are exceptions. One such exception is Cătălina Ponor, who is, perhaps, the greatest Romanian gymnast of the new millennium.

Cătălina Ponor was born on August 20, 1987, in Constanţa. She started gymnastics very early, at the age of only 4, at the Farul school sports club. In 2002 she was selected in the extended team of Romania, training in Deva, and in 2003 she joined the Romanian womens national team. In the same year, he surprised the entire world of gymnastics at the World Championships in Anaheim, California, winning three silver medals – one with the team, one in the balance beam and one in the floor exercise.

At the European Championships held in the spring of 2004, in Amsterdam, she won three gold medals, following the same “template” as the one in Anaheim: a team medal, one in the balance beam and one in the floor exercise. The same happened at the Athens Olympics, in the summer of 2004. With three Olympic gold medals, Cătălina Ponor was the most titled sportswoman of the Romanian delegation, being then named the best Romanian sportswoman and the best gymnast in the world in year 2004

Other valuable results followed, including the gold medals at the Europeans, in 2005 and 2006, in the beam event, and the bronze obtained with the team, in 2007, at the World Championships in Stuttgart. Catalina then retired, but, after a break of four years, in 2011 she resumed her training. At the Olympic Games in London, in 2012, Cătălina was awarded a silver medal in the floor exercise, and, together with the Romanian team, she climbed the third step of the podium. She also took part in the 2016 Games in Rio, where she carried the Romanian flag at the opening ceremony.

Catalinas last valuable result was obtained in April 2017, when, at the European Championships in Cluj, she won the gold medal on beam. Cătălina Ponor retired in November 2017, at the age of 30. It should also be noted that she was designated the best gymnast in Europe in 2017, the result of an online survey conducted by the European Union of Gymnastics.