Romanian Gymnasts

Romanian Gymnasts

Romania is best known in gymnastics for the inspirational star Nadia Comaneci. Comaneci is the first to receive a perfect 10 in an Olympic gymnast event. She is also one of the gymnasts credited with popularizing the sport around the world. In 1996 two of the Romanian women’s team took home four medals, the highest medal winners in women’s gymnastics that year. The Romanian team is well known for its consistency and power.

Famous Romanian Gymnasts

As stated Nadia Comaneci is probably the most well known Romanian gymnast but there are others in more recent years that have made great strides in the Olympic Games. Lavinia Milosovici, Gina Gogean, Alexandra Marinescu and Simona Amanar all competed in the 1996 Olympics and represented their team and country well. Gogean and Amanar both brought home four medals, the most for women’s gymnastics that year. The team went through many hardships that year including the injury of their teammate Ana Maria Bican during practice. Bican was a key member of that year’s team and though the loss was devastating the squad still achieved much success. Catalina Ponor is another well known Romanian who competed in the 2004 Olympic Games. Ponor has earned many medals in her short time of recorded competitions. In 2004 she earned five gold medals at the European Championships as well as three at the Olympics. Ponor has recently decided to return to gymnastics after a short break and intends to compete on the 2008 Romanian team.

Romanian Gymnast Videos

A search of Google will find videos of various news items regarding a favored Romanian gymnast. It will be difficult to find any recordings of their routines without a more precise search. YouTube is a valuable resource that houses the videos of many different sporting competitions, including those of gymnasts. A fan intent on viewing a video of their favorite gymnast need only type in their name and a few videos will present themselves. Videos of Catalina Ponor, Ana Maria Bican and Nadia Comaneci are all available on YouTube. Official videos of their performances were not discovered but unofficial videos work just as well. Many of the videos are commentated in various languages but were covered by multiple nations. Take the time to find the video in English, French or whatever is preferred, it would be well worth it as some commentators have great insight into what the athletes go through. Some commentators are even former gymnasts or well studied so they may impart some terminology to their audience. They will also pass along some knowledge on how certain events work and are judged.