After months of back and forth and an extended vacation, famed Romanian head coaches, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang have returned to the helm of Romanian Gymnastics. Oh and they might be bringing Catalina Ponor and Sandra Izbasa with them.
Over the weekend, Texas Dreams' gymnast, Macy Toronjo debuted a floor routine to the exact same music one Miss Sandra Izbasa, Olympic Champion of Romania, had for her routine at last year's world championships.
I've been a complete slacker this week on the blogging. But, when you come down with a cold, your priority is getting better. Anyways, I am doing my usual Tumblr trolling for things to blog about. I found this GIF of the glorious Sandra Izbasa on the floor exercise during the world championships in Antwerp, working it in her floor routine.
Sandra Izbasa brought up the possibility of her retiring after the World Championships in Antwerp at the Romanian National Championships. Sandra only competed on floor exercise at the Romanian nationals and scored a 15.1, an improvement over her score at last weekend's Dutch Friendly. Per Romgym.ro , Sandra said she's not going to Antwerp to win a medal, but really just to do her routine. After Antwerp, Sandra said she wants to keep going to the gym, but without pressure.
After months of anticipation and waiting very, very patiently, Sandra Izbasa has returned her awesome self to competition. Great timing with Worlds in a few weeks. Sandra made her post Olympic debut at the Dutch Invitational this weekend in, Alphen aan den Rijn. Sandra only competed on the floor exercise. But she debuted a new routine and she took second behind Olympic teammate, Diana Bulimar.
For over forty years, gymnastics has been a sport dominated by teenagers. At least on the women's side. Men's gymnastics seems to be dominated by men in their early to mid twenties. But there are veterans of the sport that defy all age barriers and statistics. Previously, I featured a couple of gymnasts who were over the age of 30 (in light of my 30th birthday). I've always found it ironic that a man or woman in his/her prime is considered "ancient" by gymnastics standards. In honor of the prime time players, this blog will feature gymnast who defy age stereotypes.
Sandra Izbasa has won gold medals at two Olympic games.Won multiple World and European medals and now, she's achieved yet another honor. The Romanian Ministry of Defence announced via their Facebook page, today that Sandra was promoted to lieutenant ranking.
Recently, Romanian gymnast, Diana Chelaru announced she would be retiring from elite gymnastics. In October, she'd left the national team's Bucharest training facility to return home to Onesti. The 19-year-old had been struggling with life on the national team and was reportedly homesick.
It's about that time. The Olympics have passed, some gymnasts are continuing and some are bidding their beloved sport of Gymnastics farewell. So who is retiring? Let's find out.