Meet the Olympians: Catalina Ponor

Meet the Olympians: Catalina Ponor

Meet the Olympians: Catalina Ponor

Jul 20, 2012 by Gina Mueller
Meet the Olympians: Catalina Ponor
Catalina Ponor, Team Romania 


Photo by Thomas Schreyer


Catalina Ponor is an Olympic Champion from Romania who came out of retirement in 2011 and has been training for the 2012 Olympics ever since. Ponor trains at C.S. Dinamo Bucuresti under head coach Octavian Belu. Her career kickstarted in 2003 when she competed at Worlds and helped the Romanians capture silver. Individually, Ponor earned two more silver medals on beam and floor in event finals. She represented Romania at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, individually earning gold medals on the beam and floor exercise and led her team to a gold medal finish. Ponor competed at the 2005 World Championships where she was awarded bronze on the beam. In 2007, Ponor competed at Worlds in Stuttgart, where Romania earned bronze. Individually she finished fourth on the beam. Later that year Ponor announced her retirement due to ongoing injuries. 

In March of 2011 Ponor began training again with the Romanian national team under head coaches Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang. Ponor competed at the 2011 World Championships, where Romania took fourth and individually she finished seventh in the beam finals. 

Recently, at the 2012 European Championships, Ponor contributed performances on the vault, beam and floor, which helped Romania earn gold. She also won gold on the beam and silver on the floor exercise. Ponor is a favorite to win gold in London on balance beam and floor exercise. 






Interesting Facts
  • Ponor is the first gymnast since Daniela Silivas (1988) to win three gold medals at a single Olympics. 
  • In August of 2011, Ponor had a minor medical procedure done to correct a congenital heart defect. She returned to training the same week. 
  • She is one of only two gymnasts that won gold in Athens and have continued on to the London Olympics. 
  • Her beam routine has a D-score of 6.5, which is one of the highest in the world. 
  • During her retirement Ponor moved to the U.S. and spent time coaching.

Catalina Ponor training before event finals in Tokyo at the 2011 World Championships

Watch more video of Catalina Ponor on gymnastike.org