Athlete of the Week on RRI – Gymnast Maria Celpinschi

Gymnast Maria Celpinschi is last week's best-performing athlete for winning the beam and floor finals in Mersin.

Steliu Lambru, 14.09.2021, 01:45

At the World Championships hosted
by Mersin, Turkey, Romanian gymnast Maria Celpinschi won gold in the beam final
with a score of 12.750 points. She was followed by Ana Derek of Croatia with
12.600 points, and Hungary’s Csenge Maria Bacskay with 12.100 points. In the
floor event, Maria Celpinschi also finished first with 12.900 points, followed
by Hungary’s Dorina Boeczoego with 12.850 points and Ana Derek of Croatia, also
with 12.850 points. This is the first international seniors competition where the Romanian gymnast won gold medals. For her achievement, we have designated Maria
Celpinschi Athlete of the Week on RRI.

Maria Sorana Celpinschi was born
August 12, 2005 in Constanța, on the Romanian Black Sea Coast. She is currently
enrolled at Farul Constanța sports club. In 2019, at the national youth
championships, she won silver medals in the vault and floor events and finished
4th in the all-around event. At the seniors national championships
that year, Celpinschi ranked 5th in the vault event, 7th
in the floor event and 12th in the individual all-around event. At
the Horizon Cup youth event hosted by Greece in 2019, Maria swept the board,
except the vault gold medal. In 2020, at the national championships, Maria
ranked 4th in the vault and uneven bars finals. She also competed in
the European youth championships in Mersin, winning gold in the team event.
Celpinschi then won silver in the individual all-around and floor events, both
finals being won by another Romanian, Ana Bărbosu. She made her debut in
seniors competitions in 2021 at the European Championships hosted by Basel,
Switzerland. She was Larisa Iordache’s backup, and following the latter’s withdrawal due
to a medical condition, Maria Celpinschi competed in the floor event, ranking 5th.
(VP)