Simona Amânar

Simona Amânar medal table
Gymnast
Romania
Olympic Summer Games
gold	1996 Atlanta	Horse jump
gold	2000 Sydney	Individual all-around
gold	2000 Sydney	Team all-around
silver	1996 Atlanta	ground
bronze	1996 Atlanta	Individual all-around
bronze	1996 Atlanta	Team all-around
bronze	2000 Sydney	ground

Simona "Simi" Amânar (born October 7, 1979 in Constanța ) is a former Romanian gymnast . She is a three-time Olympic champion , six-time world and six-time European champion.

Amânar started gymnastics in Constanța at the age of five. In 1994 she helped to win the team title for Romania at the European and World Championships . At the gymnastics world championships in 1995 she was able to defend the world championship title with the Romanian gymnastics team and also became world champion in jumping.

In 1996, Amânar won the silver medal in jumping at the world championships behind her compatriot Gina Gogean . At the European Championships shortly afterwards she won three titles, with the team, in the jump and - tied on points with the Russian Swetlana Chorkina and the Ukrainian Lilija Podkopajewa - on the uneven bars. The sporting highlight of the year was the Summer Olympics . In Atlanta , Amânar became the Olympic champion in horse jumping . On the ground she won the silver medal and in the individual all-around she was third. With the Romanian team she won another bronze medal.

In 1997 Amânar was double world champion at the gymnastics world championships, on the floor and in the jump. She also won silver in the all-around competition behind the Russian Swetlana Chorkina. At the 1998 European Gymnastics Championships , she won gold with the Romanian team. In the all-around competition she was second behind the Russian Swetlana Chorkina. She won another silver medal while jumping, equal to her compatriot Maria Olaru . She was third on the floor and on the balance beam.

At the 1999 World Gymnastics Championships , Amânar was team world champion for the fourth time in a row (in 1996 there was no team classification). She also won silver on the ground and jumping. In 2000 she was first at the European gymnastics championships , second on the balance beam and third with the team. At the Summer Olympics in Sydney she finally won the all-around with the Romanian team and in the individual competition after her teammate Andreea Răducan was stripped of the all- around gold medal for doping . There was another bronze medal for her on the ground.

She announced her retirement shortly after the Sydney Games. In the same year she was awarded the Order of Loyalty to the rank of commander. In 2007 Simona Amânar was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame . She is also an honorary citizen of Constanța and Timișoara .

She married Cosmin Tabără, a lawyer, on March 9, 2002 in Timișoara and is the mother of three children. Today she lives in Timișoara, is Vice-President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and worked at the Western University of Timişoara .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DECRET No. 384 of October 10, 2000
2. ↑ Simona Halep, cetăţean de onoare al orasului Constanta
3. ↑ Timișoara are peste 80 de cetateni de onoare
4. ↑ Simona Amânar, din nou mamă. Fosta campioană de gimnastică a născut vineri un băiețel
5. ↑ COMITET EXECUTIV 2013 - 2016
6. ↑ Mondo News of September 8, 2008 ( Memento of March 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 5, 2010

Web links

• Simona Amânar at the COSR (Romanian)
• Simona Amânar in the database of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (English)
• Simona Amânar in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame (English)
• Simona Amânar in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Athlete portrait of Simona Amânar at romanian-gymnastics.com (English)
• Amânar (animation of the element named after her on the jump). gymnaflash.com, accessed October 16, 2013.