Cătălina Ponor

Cătălina Ponor
— Gymnast —
Ponor at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Cătălina Ponor
Nickname(s)	Cătă, Black Tulip
Country represented	Romania
Born	(1987-08-20) 20 August 1987 Constanța, Romania
Residence	Bucharest, Romania
Height	1.56 m (5 ft 1 in)
Weight	47 kg (103 lb 10 oz)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior international elite
Club	CS Dinamo București
Head coach(es)	Octavian Bellu
Assistant coach(es)	Sandu Lucian
Former coach(es)	Matei Stanei, Gabriela Dosoftei
Choreographer	Mariana Bitang
Music	2004: Gia 2005: Harem 2006: Underground 2007: Dark Angel 2011: Rise 2011–2012: Requiem for a Dream 2012: Fever
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 1 1 World Championships 0 3 2 European Championships 7 2 3 Total 10 6 6 Representing  Romania Olympic Games 2004 Athens Team 2004 Athens Balance beam 2004 Athens Floor exercise 2012 London Floor exercise 2012 London Team World Championships 2003 Anaheim Team 2003 Anaheim Balance beam 2003 Anaheim Floor exercise 2005 Melbourne Balance beam 2007 Stuttgart Team World Cup Final 2004 Birmingham Balance beam 2004 Birmingham Floor exercise European Championships 2004 Amsterdam Team 2004 Amsterdam Balance beam 2004 Amsterdam Floor exercise 2005 Debrecen Balance beam 2006 Volos Balance beam 2012 Brussels Team 2012 Brussels Balance beam 2006 Volos Team 2012 Brussels Floor exercise 2006 Volos Floor exercise 2016 Bern Balance beam 2016 Bern Floor exercise

Cătălina Ponor (Romanian pronunciation: [kətəˈlina poˈnor]; born 20 August 1987) is an artistic gymnast who represented Romania at the 2004, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. She won three gold medals at the 2004 Olympics: on balance beam, on floor, and as part of the Romanian team. She also earned a silver medal on floor and a bronze medal as part of the Romanian team at the 2012 Olympics, as well as multiple World Championship and European Championship medals.

Early life

Ponor was born in Constanța and started gymnastics when she was four years old.^[1] In 2002, she was discovered training in Constanţa by the Romanian national team coaches, Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang, who invited her to join the national team.^[2]

Gymnastics career

2003–04

Ponor made her international debut at the 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California, where the Romanian team finished in second place. Individually, she won silver medals on balance beam, scoring 9.587, and floor, scoring 9.700.^[3] In November, she competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Stuttgart, Germany, where she placed first on balance beam (9.587) and third on floor (9.237).^[4]

In March 2004, Ponor competed at the World Cup event in Cottbus, Germany. She placed first on balance beam, scoring 9.700, and second on floor, scoring 9.575.^[5] Later in March, she competed at the World Cup event in Lyon, France, and won silver medals on balance beam (9.175) and floor (9.625).^[6]

At the beginning of May, she helped Romania win the team competition at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Amsterdam. In event finals, she placed first on balance beam, scoring 9.725, and first on floor, scoring 9.637.^[7]

Athens Olympics

In August, Ponor competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She contributed scores of 9.412 on vault, 9.762 on balance beam, and 9.750 on floor toward the Romanian team's first-place finish.^[8] In event finals, she won gold medals on balance beam (9.787) and floor (9.750).^[9] She called the results "a dream that came true. ... When I won the gold medal on balance beam, I was very emotional. I had wished to win that medal forever."^[10]

Ponor was the first female gymnast since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win three gold medals at a single Olympics.^[2]

2005–07

Ponor competed at the European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, in June 2005. She placed first on balance beam with a score of 9.737 and fourth on floor with a score of 9.200.^[11] That fall, she won a bronze medal on beam (9.500) at the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne.^[12]

In March 2006, she competed at the Cottbus World Cup and placed sixth in the floor final with a score of 13.250.^[13] The following month, at the European Championships in Volos, Greece, she placed first on balance beam (15.800) and third on floor (14.600).^[14]

In 2007, Ponor began training with Mariana Bitang again. She said: "She's the only person who can bring me back to the form I was in. She's the only coach who can guide me to a world title and another Olympic title." Bitang added, "We saw her very determined, and we were very surprised to see her appetite for competition."^[15]

In July, Ponor competed at the Romanian National Championships in Ploiesti, Romania. She placed first on vault with a score of 15.062 and first on balance beam with a score of 16.500.^[16]

In September, Ponor competed at the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart. She helped the Romanian team place third and individually she placed fourth in the balance beam final with a score of 15.700.^[17]

In December, Ponor retired due to ongoing injuries.^[18]

2011

In March, Ponor began training again with the Romanian national team under the newly returned coaches Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang.^[18]

At the beginning of August, Ponor had a minor medical procedure to correct a congenital heart defect that was causing an arrhythmia and was able to resume training the same week. She said, "I had a congenital problem I was born with, but I went to the doctor and all is well."^[19]

At the end of August, Ponor competed at the Romanian National Championships in Onesti, Romania. She placed second on balance beam scoring 15.775 and third on floor scoring 14.625.^[20]

In October, Ponor competed at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo. She contributed scores of 14.933 on vault, 15.166 on balance beam, and 14.633 on floor towards the Romanian team's fourth-place finish and individually she placed seventh in the balance beam final with a score of 14.241.^[21]

2012

In March, Ponor competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Doha, Qatar. She placed first on balance beam with a score of 15.300 and first on floor with a score of 15.275.^[22] Ponor said, "I want to do the same thing that I did in 2004. It was hard to make a comeback, but all the time I was thinking that I could do it. I will not relax till I reach my goal."^[23]

In April, Ponor competed at an international meet against France in Cholet, France. She contributed scores of 14.900 on vault and 15.550 on balance beam towards the Romanian team's first-place finish.^[24]

Later in April, Ponor competed at an international meet against Germany and the United Kingdom in Ulm, Germany. She contributed scores of 14.750 on vault, 15.100 on balance beam, and 14.900 on floor toward the Romanian team's first-place finish.^[25]

In May, Ponor competed at the 2012 European Championships in Brussels. She contributed scores of 15.033 on vault, 15.433 on balance beam, and 14.733 on floor towards the Romanian team's first-place finish. In event finals, she placed first on balance beam scoring 15.300 and second on floor scoring 14.633.^[26] Bellu said, "You saw the reaction of the fans. A triple Olympic champion gets respect, especially if she performs like this."^[27] She is the gymnast who has won the balance beam title the most times at the European Championships: 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2012.

In June, Ponor competed at the World Cup event in Ghent, Belgium. She won the balance beam event final with a score of 15.025.^[28]

At the beginning of July, Ponor competed at an international meet against France, Germany, and Italy in Bucharest, Romania. She contributed scores of 15.000 on vault, 15.700 on balance beam, and 15.000 on floor toward the Romanian team's first-place finish.^[29]

London Olympics

Ponor with the 2012 Romanian Olympic team

At the end of July, Ponor competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She helped the Romanian team qualify to the team final,^[30] and individually, she qualified to the balance beam final with a score of 15.033 and the floor final with a score of 14.600.^[31] In the team final, she contributed scores of 15.100 on vault, 15.416 on balance beam, and 14.800 on floor toward the Romanian team's third-place finish.^[32] She earned the high score on balance beam during the team competition.

In event finals, Ponor placed fourth on beam (15.066)^[33] and second on floor (15.200).^[34] On beam, she had the same score as American Aly Raisman, but after a tie-breaking procedure, Raisman was awarded the bronze medal. Ponor said, "I will say it again, and I want everyone to know, I will quit without regrets. I have worked every second for my team, I have worked every second for myself, I have worked every second for everybody. I have already been an Olympic champion. I will quit gymnastics with my chin up."^[35]

2015

In February 2015, Ponor registered for the anti-doping control within the International Federation of Gymnastics, which suggested that she might be returning to competition.^[36] She officially announced her comeback in early March.^[37] She told WOGymnastika that by coming back for a third time, she will be risking her biggest failure.^[38] She could not compete in the 2015 European Games in Baku as she was not eligible yet.

In September, Ponor made her return in competition by competing in a friendly meet between Romania and France where she helped the Romanian team place first.

2016

In June 2016, Ponor won two bronze medals at the European Championships. On 6 July, she was selected to represent Romania at the 2016 Summer Olympics, despite Larisa Iordache's achievement of her 4th consecutive national all around title. This announcement was made shortly after Ponor was named as Romania's flag bearer for the opening ceremonies, the first time this honor was given to a gymnast.

Competitive history

See also

• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Romania
• List of Olympic medal leaders in women's gymnastics

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cătălina Ponor.

• Cătălina Ponor at the International Federation of Gymnastics
• Cătălina Ponor at 2012 Summer Olympics

Olympic Games
Preceded by Horia Tecău	Flagbearer for  Romania Rio de Janeiro 2016	Succeeded by Incumbent

Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics - Women's Team All-Around
1928 Netherlands 1936 Germany 1948 Czechoslovakia 1952 Soviet Union 1956 Soviet Union 1960 Soviet Union 1964 Soviet Union 1968 Soviet Union 1972 Soviet Union 1976 Soviet Union 1980 Soviet Union 1984 Romania 1988 Soviet Union 1992 Unified Team 1996 United States 2000 Romania 2004 Romania 2008 China 2012 United States 2016 United States
2004:  Romania (ROU), Oana Ban, Alexandra Eremia, Cătălina Ponor, Monica Roșu, Nicoleta Daniela Șofronie, Silvia Stroescu