Cătălina Ponor

Cătălina Ponor
Cătălina Ponor 2016
Personal information
Nationality:	Romania
discipline	Apparatus gymnastics
Special device / s:	Floor balance beam
Birthday:	August 20, 1987
Place of birth:	Constanța
Size:	158 cm
Weight:	51 kg
Medals
Olympic games gold 2004 Athens ground gold 2004 Athens Balance beam gold 2004 Athens team silver 2012 London ground bronze 2012 London team  World championships silver 2003 Anaheim ground silver 2003 Anaheim Balance beam  European championships gold 2004 Amsterdam ground gold 2004 Amsterdam Balance beam gold 2006 Volos Balance beam bronze 2006 Volos ground gold 2012 Brussels Balance beam gold 2012 Brussels team silver 2012 Brussels ground bronze 2016 Bern Balance beam bronze 2016 Bern ground

Cătălina Ponor (born August 20, 1987 in Constanța ) is a former Romanian artistic gymnast .

Career

Cătălina Ponor started for CSȘ. No. 1 Farul Constanța and was trained there by Matei Stănei and Gabriela Dosoftei . She first attracted international attention when she won three silver medals at the 2003 World Gymnastics Championships : in the team all- around competition, on the floor and on the balance beam . In 2004 she won three gold medals at the European Championships in the same disciplines.

She was one of the most successful athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens . Ponor won the gold medal on the floor and on the balance beam in the individual finals. In the all-round competition of the teams, she also won the gold medal with Romania.

At the European Championships in 2005 , Ponor was able to defend her title on the balance beam, and she was fourth on the floor. At the 2005 World Gymnastics Championships , she won bronze on the balance beam. At the European Championships in April 2006, she won gold again on the balance beam. She also took silver in the team all-around competition and bronze on the ground. Then Ponor had to interrupt her training due to an injury and did not return until November 2006. She separated from her previous coaching staff and switched to Mariana Bitang . The last medal won Ponor at the Gymnastics World Championships in 2007 , where she finished 3rd in the team competition and 4th place on the balance beam. On December 12, 2007, she announced her retirement from active competitive sports. In April 2011 Ponor returned to competitive sport and resumed training with Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang after an almost 4-year absence. At the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, she won 4th place with the team. At the following Summer Olympics in London in 2012 , she and the Romanian team won the bronze medal behind the Olympic champions from the USA and Russia as well as silver on the ground behind the American Alexandra Raisman .

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, she was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

In 2017, Ponor became European champion at the European Championships in Cluj-Napoca. At the end of the year she announced her resignation.

Cătălina Ponor is 1.58 m tall, her competition weight was 51 kg.

Awards

• Voted the best female athlete of 2004 in Constanța County
• Honorary Citizen of Constanța
• Order of loyalty to the officer rank 2017

Web links

Commons : Cătălina Ponor  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Cătălina Ponor in the database of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (English)
• Cătălina Ponor in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Athlete portrait of Cătălina Ponor at romanian-gymnastics.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nets Port of 12 December 2007 ( Memento of 16 April 2010 at the Internet Archive ), accessed 5 January 2010
2. ↑ http://adevarul.ro/news/sport/fara-sex-simbol-rio-cea-mai-frumoasa-jucatoare-delegatia-romaniei-sa-accidentat-olimpiada-1_57951b735ab6550cb829a900/index.html
3. ↑ Gimnasta Cătălina Ponor, aur și argint la ultimul concurs din carieră, Abierto Mexicano de Gimnasia , libertatea.ro November 26, 2017
4. ↑ Award of the best athletes of Constanţa County 2004 ( Memento of May 24, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.2 MB)
5. ↑ Simona Halep, cetăţean de onoare al orasului Constanta
6. ↑ Catalina Ponor, Larisa Iordache si Marian Dragulescu, decorati de presedintele Romaniei COSR September 27, 2017