Radio România Internațional

Tag: world gymnastics championships

  • Athlete of the Week on RRI – Gymnast Gabriel Burtănete

    Athlete of the Week on RRI – Gymnast Gabriel Burtănete

    The World Gymnastics Championships hosted last week by Liverpool have once again confirmed that no single nation can dominate this sport. One example in this respect is the fact that the gold medal in the womens all-around event was won by an athlete from Brazil, Rebeca Andrade. Canada also climbed onto the podium in the team event, another premiere worth mentioning. No team from Eastern Europe or the former USSR managed to make it to the team finals.




    In the womens competition, Romania was represented just by two athletes – Andreea Preda and Ana-Maria Bărbosu, both making their debut in world championships. Bărbosu managed to qualify to the all-around final, where she ranked 20. In the mens competition, Romania was represented by a full team, which ranked 19 in the team event. In the all-around event, Gabriel Burtănete qualified to the finals, where he ranked 23. He was very close, however, to securing a medal in the vault event, where he ranked 4. For his remarkable performance in Liverpool, we have designated Gabriel Brutănete Athlete of the Week on RRI.




    Gabriel Burtănete was born in Buzău on February 19, 2002. He enrolled at the local school sports club, then he moved to SCM Gloria Buzău. In 2018 he became national champion. He also had a stellar performance in 2019 at the World Junior Championships in Győr, Hungary, where he won gold in the vault event. He proved his worth again in 2020, at the European Junior Championships in Mersin, Turkey, where he won gold again in the vault finals. (VP)


  • Athlete of the Week on RRI: Gymnast Catalina Ponor

    Athlete of the Week on RRI: Gymnast Catalina Ponor

    Only one month remains before the kick-off of the European Gymnastics Championships, to be hosted by Cluj in central Romania. It is however not the first time our country hosts the European Championships. The first edition of this competition, known at the time as the European Cup, was hosted by Bucharest in 1957.



    Ahead of the European Championships this year, seven athletes from Romania, two in the women’s competition and five in the men’s competition, took part in the World Gymnastics Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Six of them failed to qualify to individual event finals. Catalina Ponor however grabbed two gold medals, in the women’s beam and floor finals, which is why we have designated her Athlete of the Week on RRI.



    Catalina Ponor was born on August 20, 1987 in Constanta. She took up gymnastics at the age of four with the local sports club Farul. In 2002 she was drafted into Romania’s extended team, and the next year she was included in Romania’s official women’s team. That very same year she produced a big surprise at the World Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California, winning three silver medals, in the team, beam and floor events. Previous results offered no clues about Catalina’s true potential. At the 2003 national championships she won bronze in the beam final, and at the International championships held in Romania that same year she won the beam bronze.



    The first glorious moment in Catalina Ponor’s career was the European Championship in 2004, hosted by Amsterdam. She won three gold medals, in the team, beam and floor events. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she repeated the same extraordinary feat in the same events. With three Olympic gold medals, Catalina was then designated the best Romanian athlete and Best Gymnast in 2004.



    She continued her good performances in the following years, grabbing gold medals at the European Championships of 2005 and 2006, and bronze with Romania’s team at the World Championships of 2007 in Stuttgart.



    After a four-year break, Catalina resumed training and took part in the 2012 European Champion ships in Brussels, winning the team event. In individual competitions, Catalina Ponor grabbed gold in the beam event and silver in the floor finals. At the London Olympics that same year, Catalina won silver in the floor finals and bronze with Romania’s team.



    Her next professional tournament was the European Championships in Bern, Switzerland, when she won bronze in the beam and floor finals. (Translated by V. Palcu)