Cătălina Ponor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cătălina Ponor
Ponor at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Cătălina Ponor
Nickname(s)	Cătă, Black Tulip
Country represented	Romania
Born	(1987-08-20) 20 August 1987 (age 38) Constanța, Romania
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	2002–07, 2011–12, 2015–17 (ROU)
Club	CS Dinamo București
Head coach(es)	Octavian Bellu
Assistant coach(es)	Sandu Lucian
Former coach(es)	Matei Stanei, Gabriela Dosoftei
Choreographer	Adriana Pop
Music	2004: Gia 2005: Harem 2006: Underground 2007: Dark Angel 2011: Rise 2011–2012: Requiem for a Dream 2012: Fever 2016: Powerful
Retired	30 April 2006 12 December 2007 8 August 2012 25 November 2017
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 1 1 World Championships 0 3 2 European Championships 8 2 3 World Cup Final 1 1 0 FIG World Cup 7 2 0 Total 19 9 6 Representing  Romania Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens Team Gold 2004 Athens Balance Beam Gold 2004 Athens Floor Exercise Silver 2012 London Floor Exercise Bronze 2012 London Team World Championships Silver 2003 Anaheim Team Silver 2003 Anaheim Balance Beam Silver 2003 Anaheim Floor Exercise Bronze 2005 Melbourne Balance Beam Bronze 2007 Stuttgart Team World Cup Final Gold 2004 Birmingham Balance Beam Silver 2004 Birmingham Floor Exercise European Championships Gold 2004 Amsterdam Team Gold 2004 Amsterdam Balance Beam Gold 2004 Amsterdam Floor Exercise Gold 2005 Debrecen Balance Beam Gold 2006 Volos Balance Beam Gold 2012 Brussels Team Gold 2012 Brussels Balance Beam Gold 2017 Cluj-Napoca Balance Beam Silver 2006 Volos Team Silver 2012 Brussels Floor Exercise Bronze 2006 Volos Floor Exercise Bronze 2016 Bern Balance Beam Bronze 2016 Bern Floor Exercise

Cătălina Ponor (born August 20, 1987) is a famous Romanian former artistic gymnast. She competed in three different Summer Olympic Games: 2004, 2012, and 2016.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, she had an amazing performance. She won three gold medals for the balance beam, the floor exercise, and as part of the Romanian team. She also won a silver medal on floor and a bronze medal with her team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Throughout her career, she won 23 medals at the Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships. Twelve of these medals were gold. In 2022, she was honored by being added to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Gymnastics Career

Ponor was born in Constanța, Romania. She began gymnastics at the very young age of four. In 2002, when she was about 15, the national team coaches saw her talent and invited her to join the team.

First Major Competitions

Ponor's first big international event was the 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She helped the Romanian team win a silver medal. She also won two individual silver medals for her routines on the balance beam and the floor.

In 2004, she continued to succeed. At the European Championships, she won gold medals for the team event, balance beam, and floor exercise. This showed she was ready for the biggest competition of all: the Olympics.

The 2004 Athens Olympics

Ponor at the 2007 World Championships

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Ponor became a star. She helped Romania win the team gold medal with her high scores. Then, in the individual events, she won two more gold medals on her own. She became the Olympic champion on both the balance beam and the floor exercise.

Winning three gold medals at one Olympics was a huge achievement. She was the first female gymnast to do so since Daniela Silivaș in 1988. Ponor said it was "a dream that came true."

More Medals and a Short Break

After the Olympics, Ponor kept competing. She won a gold medal on the balance beam at the 2005 European Championships. She also won a bronze medal on beam at the 2005 World Championships.

In 2007, she helped the Romanian team win a bronze medal at the World Championships. However, she had to deal with injuries and decided to retire from gymnastics in December 2007.

Amazing Comebacks

Many people thought Ponor's career was over, but she surprised everyone by returning to the sport.

First Comeback and the 2012 Olympics

In 2011, Ponor started training with the national team again. She was determined to compete at the highest level. She competed at the 2011 World Championships, helping her team place fourth.

By 2012, she was back in top form. At the European Championships, she won gold with her team and another gold on the balance beam. She said, "I want to do the same thing that I did in 2004."

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she led the Romanian team to a bronze medal. Individually, she won a silver medal in the floor exercise. She also placed fourth on the balance beam after a very close competition.

Second Comeback for the 2016 Olympics

Ponor with the 2012 Romanian Olympic team

After the 2012 Olympics, Ponor retired again. But in 2015, she announced she was coming back once more. She wanted to compete in a third Olympic Games.

In 2016, she was chosen to represent Romania at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She was also chosen to be the flag bearer for her country at the opening ceremony, a great honor for any athlete. At the Olympics, she made it to the balance beam final and finished in seventh place.

Final Competitions and Retirement

Ponor continued competing in 2017. She wanted to perform at the European Championships, which were held in her home country of Romania. In front of a cheering home crowd, she won the gold medal on the balance beam. It was her fifth European title on that event.

After a few more events, Ponor officially retired from gymnastics for the final time in November 2017.

Personal Life

Ponor was in a relationship with Puerto Rican gymnast Tommy Ramos from 2012 to 2016. In June 2022, she married Romanian actor and director Bogdan Jianu. Later that year, on December 29, 2022, they welcomed their first child, a baby boy.

Competitive History

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2003
	World Championships
2004
	European Championships
	Olympic Games
2005
	European Championships						4
	World Championships
2006
	European Championships
2007
	World Championships					4
	National Championships
2011
	World Championships	4				7
	National Championships
2012	Doha World Cup
	FRA-ROU Friendly
	GER-GBR-ROU Friendly
	European Championships
	Ghent World Cup
	ROU-FRA-GER-ITA Friendly
	Olympic Games					4
2015	FRA-ROU Friendly
2016	Doha World Cup
	BEL-ROU-GER Friendly
	European Championships	6
	National Championships
	Chemnitz Friendly
	Olympic Games					7
	Mexican Open
2017	Baku World Cup
	Doha World Cup
	European Championships
	National Championships
	Szombathely World Cup
	Arthur Gander Memorial		4	7			4
	Mexican Open

See also

In Spanish: Cătălina Ponor para niños

• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Romania
• List of Olympic medal leaders in women's gymnastics