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| Outstanding Performances for Romanian Gymnasts 11/04/2011 |
| (2011-04-11) |
| Last updated: 2011-04-12 15:55 EET |
Romania managed to keep its superpower reputation unscathed at the end of the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships held in Berlin. Romanian gymnasts scooped a total of 6 medals - 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. Romania is runner-up in the medal table, following Russia with 8 medals, but ahead of the hosts from Germany, who managed 7 medals.
This superb achievement is largely owing to the return of the famous Romanian coaches Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang to the helm of the Romanian Olympic team, following a pause of several years. Their contribution has had a huge impact, way exceeding the set target of 2 medals.
The unquestionable star of this year’s championships was Sandra Izbasa, herself returning after a long break owing to a previous injury. Izbasa reaped gold twice, after prevailing in the women’s vault and floor event finals. Her teammate Diana Chelaru put on a solid routine in the floor event, scooping bronze.
Adding to the record of the Romanian women’s team was Amelia Racea’s bronze medal in the individual all-around event. These excellent results follow after a break of several years, reminding us of the times when Romanian gymnasts used to be regular winners of continental and international competitions. Romania’s last gold medal in the floor event at a European Championship was back in 2008, when the very same Sandra Izbasa triumphed in Clermont, France.
Similarly, the last Romanian to win two gold medals in a continental competition was Catalina Ponor back in 2004 in Amsterdam, in the floor and beam events. Another Romanian gymnast, Ana Porgras, at first deemed favorite, failed to qualify in the finals after sustaining a foot injury, and had to withdraw from all the events. Porgras didn’t make the beam finals either, an event in which she currently holds the world title.
Four Romanian gymnasts made it into the men’s competition: Flavius Koczi, Vlad Cotuna, Andrei Muntean and Andrei Urscahe. Flavius Koczi got the best results. Koczi displayed a rock-solid routine in the all-around event, but fell just short of outranking the defending champion Phillipp Boy of Germany.
However, Koczi was unmatched in the floor event. He also qualified in the vault finals, but narrowly missed out on another medal due to an inaccuracy in his second attempt. The other Romanian athletes pitted their skills against the European elite, also eyeing forthcoming competitions. The next fixture for the Romanian gymnastics team is the World Championships to be held in Tokyo this coming October. The competition is considered to be the final test before the 2012 Olympics in London.
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