Those Other Romanians...

I don't know about you, but I consider myself a fan of Romanian gymnastics. However, I have to admit that other than the stars Steliana Nistor and Sandra Izbasa, I don't know an awful lot about the Romanian gymnasts of this quad. So the next few posts, we will take a look at them, namely Olympians Andreea Acatrinei, Gabriela Dragoi, Andreea Grigore and Anamaria Tamarjan and other national team members Daniella Druncea and Cerasela Patrascu.

Firstly, let's take a look at Gabriela DragoiGabriela began gymnastics at the age of four, and was the only gymnast from her club (Buzau Sports Club) to be invited to the national team. She joined the national team in 2005. Her first major competition was the 2007 European Junior Olympics, where she qualified to the floor exercise finals with a score of 13.8, in the finals she finished 6th.
However, it floor exercise was not to become her best event. At the 2007 Romanian Nationals, she was noticed for her excellent work on beam, in particular her good form. She scored a very respectable 15.4 on beam and 58.150 in the all around.
In 2008, Gabriela represented Romania at the Europeans and was part of the gold medal team. In the team final she competed on uneven bars and vault. At the 2008 Nationals, Dragoi surprised her team mates by defeating all of them including Steliana Nistor, to become national beam champion with a score of 15.625.
Dragoi was named to the Olympic team. In qualifications she competed on beam, bars and floor exercise. She continued to surprise qualifying to the beam finals ahead of her team mates Nistor and Izbasa with a score of 15.450. In the team finals she contributed to the teams bronze medal on uneven bars.
In the beam finals, she improved on her qualification score with a 15.625 and finished in 5th place. Here's her routine:

Dragoi is certainly a very promising gymnast and is only 16 , so I hope to see more of her in the future.