Romanian Nationals

1. Ana Progras (57.525)

2. Diana Chelaru (56.700)

3. Ana Maria Tamirjan (56.300)

Overall, the Romanians aren't looking great. There were a lot of falls on bars and beam, whatever happened to the famous Romanian consistency? As they are I can't really see the Romanians being a threat at worlds. That's not me being cynical, I have always loved Romanian gymnastics but right now they really don't look up to it. Racea, Idorsche, Bulimar and Voicu are looking good for the future though!

Ana Maria Tamirjan

Ana didn't have a bad day, but it wasn't a good day, she looked much the same as she did in Milan earlier this year.

VT: DTY with a hop, FTY legs apart on contact, big step back (14.475)

UB: Full turn (fall), Tchatchev, Double layout (legs apart) (12.750)

BB: Front aerial (broken connection), flick layout, sidesomi, freehandspring, sheep jump, front tuck, full spin, change leg 1/2 (wobble), double pike dismount (14.775)

FX: Full-in piked, full-in tucked, 3/2 front 1/1, triple spin (well controlled), double pike. (14.325)

Sad to see that she has taken out the double layout on floor :(

Diana Chelaru

Diana had an pretty good day with a very nice beam and floor but a fall on bars, she looked pretty upset after the fall so it was nice to see her come back and hit on beam.

VT: DTY(?) Legs apart, bent legs, Handspring pike front (14.475)

UB:Gienger, 180 turn to jeager (fall), double layout (12.750)

BB: Front tuck, Change leg 1/4, flick full twist tucked (small wobble), free walkover, side somi, sheep jump, change leg to back tuck, double tuck dismount (stuck) (14.850)

FX: Full-in, whip to triple twist (more controlled than at euros but legs crossed), front tuck walk out to double tuck, double pike. (14.625)

Gabriella Dragoi

Gabi didn't look great which was a shame. She only competed bars and beam with watered down dismounts

UB: Jaeger (low), toe on-full turn, geinger (legs apart), double tuck (stuck)

BB: Front tuck (wobble), front aerial to flick layout, full spin with leg at horizontal to full spin, side aerial, side somi, double spin (wobble), double twist dismount.

Anna Progras

VT: FTY, well flighted (13.975)

UB: Didn't catch all of this routine, there was some nice stalder work and a double layout dismount though! (14.775)

BB: Front aerial to flick layout (big wobble), back walkover to flick layout to two feet (fall), yang bo, sheep jump, double pike dismount (14.725)

FX: Very nice dance to classical music, Full-in (step out), double spin with leg at horizontal, 2 1/2 to front tuck (step out), memmel turn, double pike, double tuck.(14.050)

I'm really suprised she came out on top here, she seemed.. well.. blah to me. I would have picked Chelaru for the top spot.

Amelia Racea

VT: FTY? step back, yurchenko half on to front tuck

UB: Jaeger, Stalder to 1/2 turn (looked like it was meant to be to full turn), shoot over to low bar (legs apart), double front dismount

BB: Started with a wobble, flick layout to two feet, change leg to back tuck, full spin, sheep jump, side aerial to side somi, double pike dismount (low)

FX: Piked full-in, triple twist, front tuck walk out to double tuck, double pike

Diana Bulimar

I missed her bars and vault!

BB: Side somi (fall), side aerial, free walkover, change leg 1/2 (fall), full spin (well controlled), flick layout (wobble), change leg to back pike, double pike dismount (low)

FX: Full-in, 3/2 to double tuck, 2 1/2 front tuck, double pike. Some nice dance work, a good floor routine

Cerasela Patrascu

Only competed bars and beam

UB: Watered down dismount, single layout flyaway

BB: Free walkover, flick layout, front tuck, attempt at a yang bo?, change leg, side somi, front full dismount.

There was a funny moment with cerasela after she finished beam, lili comsos spoke to her as she turned around and rolled her eyes, haha.

Larissa Iordache

Was definately the star of the show today!

BB: Change leg to back tuck, flick to full twist tucked, free walkover flick layout, change leg 1/2, side somi, front tuck, double spin, round off flick triple (I think... could have been a double?) twist dismount

FX: Full in, front full, 2.5 front tuck front tuck, double turn with leg up, triple twist. Very nice dance.

Claudia Voicu

BB: Silivas mount, change leg, side aerial, free walkover to flick layout, full turn with leg at horizontal, change leg 1/2 to back tuck, sheep jump, side somi (fall), double pike dismount. Other than the fall, a nice routine.

FX: Double pike, 2 1/2, double spin with leg at horizontal, 1 1/2 to front layout, 2 1/2 spin, double tuck

I missed the other routines, but she was looking pretty good

There was an absolutely tiny gymnast called Maria Bale (Not sure about that spelling..) who had an awful time on bars with two falls and it looked like she ripped her hand and came off very upset, but she came back with a good beam and floor which was nice to see.

In other news.. Sandra Izbasa is going to Germany (Frankfurt) for her tendon surgery on Monday afternoon. Good luck Sandra!

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.

10 Reasons...

Why Steliana Nistor is my favourite Romanian of the past quad.
10. She always looked well turned out but not overdone. Very business like.

9. Personally, I really liked her floor exercise, in fact it was one of my favourites in Beijing, including choreography and tumbling

8. For me, Steliana had a great body type, not all skin and bone, but not over the top muscle, just right!

7. Steliana was the oldest Romanian on the team, but remained their brightest all around stars for the entire quad. Even when she was injured, she wasn't beaten to the all around finals by a younger member of the team.

6. She was the leader of the Romanian pack and the one who was full of personality.You could tell by the way she interacted with them, she's a bit of a chatter box.

5. The girl had guts! She fought through many injuries to be at Beijing because the team needed her there, and she gave it her all. I was so glad when she and the Romanian's got bronze because to see all Steliana's effort go unrecognised would have been heart breaking.


4. Unlike most of the Romanians, she was an all around gymnast that was solid on all four events, including uneven bars.3. She is clever too! She taught herself English and took her exams just before Beijing, attaining very good results. I can't imagine preparing for my final year whilst also preparing for the Olympics! Madness!

2. You could see her attitude in the way she performed, even if she was having an off day, she would not be beaten. Her routines all showed her personality and were unique just in the way she delivered them

1. Most likely arriving from the point above - her consistency. Pavlova could learn a thing or two from Nistor, she barely ever fell! In fact, I can't remember the last time she did fall.

Here's to Stela!

Romanian Gymnastics

I recently stumbled across this documentary, aired just after the 2008 Europeans.It includes many Romanian gymnasts including Izbasa, Nistor, Patrascu, Druncea, Grigore, Tarmijan etc. It talks about the environment at Deva as well as the girls individually. Check it out, it's worth a watch. It's in Romanian with English subtitles.
Here's part 1: