Ecaterina Szabo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ecaterina Szabo Tamas/
Szabo in 1985
Personal information
Country represented	Romania
Born	(1968-01-22) 22 January 1968 (age 57) Zagon, Covasna, Romania
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	1983–87 (ROM)
Club	Liceul Sportiv Deva
Head coach(es)	Adrian Goreac
Assistant coach(es)	Adrian Stan, Maria Cosma
Former coach(es)	Márta Károlyi, Béla Károlyi, Mihai Agoston
Retired	1987
Medal record Representing  Romania Olympic Games Gold 1984 Los Angeles Team Gold 1984 Los Angeles Vault Gold 1984 Los Angeles Balance beam Gold 1984 Los Angeles Floor Silver 1984 Los Angeles All-around World Championships Gold 1983 Budapest Floor Gold 1987 Rotterdam Team Silver 1983 Budapest Team Silver 1983 Budapest Vault Silver 1983 Budapest Uneven bars Silver 1985 Montreal Team Silver 1985 Montreal Vault Silver 1985 Montreal Balance beam Bronze 1983 Budapest All-around Bronze 1987 Rotterdam Balance beam World Cup Final Bronze 1986 Beijing Vault European Championships Gold 1983 Gothenburg Uneven bars Gold 1983 Gothenburg Floor exercise Silver 1983 Gothenburg Vault Silver 1985 Helsinki Vault Bronze 1983 Gothenburg All-around

Ecaterina Szabo (born January 22, 1968) is a famous former Romanian gymnast. She won an amazing 20 medals at the Olympics, World Championships, and European Championships.

Szabo won four gold medals and one silver medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. This made her the most successful athlete at those Games! She helped her team win gold and also won gold in vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. She earned a silver medal in the all-around competition. Later, in 1987, she led her team to win the world title at the 1987 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. This was only the second time Romania had beaten the USSR in the team event. In 2000, Szabo was honored by being added to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Early Life and Gymnastics Beginnings

Ecaterina Szabo grew up in Transylvania, Romania. Her first language is Hungarian. She started gymnastics in 1973 at the Gymnastics School in Oneşti. Her first coaches were Maria Cosma and Mihai Agoston. Later, she trained with the famous coaches Márta and Béla Károlyi.

Training and Junior Success

After the Károlyis moved to the United States in 1981, Szabo continued her training at Cetate Deva. Her new coaches were Adrian Goreac, Adrian Stan, and Maria Cosma. Szabo was very successful as a junior gymnast. She was the first gymnast to win two Junior European all-around titles. She won gold medals on vault, beam, and floor in 1980. In 1982, she won gold on vault and floor again, and silver on uneven bars.

Senior Gymnastics Career

1983: First Big Competitions

Szabo's first major international event as a senior was the 1983 European Championships in Gothenburg. There, she won gold medals on floor and uneven bars. She also took silver on vault and a bronze medal in the all-around.

At the 1983 World Championships, she won a bronze medal in the all-around. During this event, she earned two perfect scores of 10.0, one on floor and one on vault! She also won gold on floor and silver on vault and uneven bars. Her high scores helped her team win a silver medal.

1984 Olympics: A Star is Born

Ecaterina Szabo on a 1984 Romanian stamp

The 1984 Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles. Many countries, including the Soviet Union, decided not to attend. However, Romania did participate. Because some strong competitors were absent, Szabo was expected to do very well. Even if all countries had competed, she would have been a top contender. Before the Olympics, she even scored a perfect 40.0 in a practice competition!

During the Olympics, Szabo helped her team win their first-ever Olympic gold medal. She also qualified for the all-around final and three event finals: vault, beam, and floor. Many people thought she would win the all-around title. However, she narrowly lost to American gymnast Mary Lou Retton by a tiny margin of 0.05 points, earning the silver medal.

Despite this, Szabo had a fantastic comeback in the individual event finals. She won three gold medals in vault, beam, and floor. Even though she didn't win the all-around, Szabo was a hero when she returned to Romania. She was even named the most successful athlete of the year in her country.

After the 1984 Olympics

The year 1985 was a bit challenging for Szabo. At the 1985 European Championships, she won a silver medal on vault. Later that year, at the 1985 World Championships, she won silver medals on beam, vault, and with her team.

However, in 1987, Szabo's hard work paid off again. At the 1987 World Championships, the Romanian team was incredibly strong. Szabo and her teammates won the gold medal in the team event, beating the Soviets. This was a huge victory! Individually, she also won a bronze medal on the balance beam. After these championships, Szabo decided to retire from artistic gymnastics.

Life After Gymnastics

After retiring, Ecaterina Szabo went to study at the University of Physical and Sports Education in Bucharest. After she graduated, she became a coach in Deva. She coached several gymnasts who later became successful, including Maria Olaru, who won a World Championship in 1999.

In 1991, Szabo married Christian Tamas, who was a member of Romania's kayak team. They have two sons named Lorenzo and Zeno. In 1992, the family moved to Chamalieres, France, where Szabo now works as a coach.

Honors and Recognition

Szabo in 2017

Ecaterina Szabo has been honored in many ways. In 2005, she was featured in a documentary series about athletes from her region. A film about her was called The Comet of Zagon. In 2007, a kindergarten in her hometown of Zagon was named the Szabó Kati Óvoda in her honor. In 2008, the sports hall in Sfântu Gheorghe was also renamed to honor the four-time Olympic champion.

Gymnastics Skills

Szabo was a strong all-around gymnast with a beautiful style. She performed her routines very cleanly. Between 1983 and 1984, she earned 17 perfect scores of 10.0!

Impressive Moves

On the balance beam, she could do a tucked backward salto with a full twist. On the floor exercise, she performed difficult tumbling passes. For example, she could do a 1½ twist back salto into another 1½ twist back salto, followed by a punch front. She also started her floor routines with a double back flip with a full twist in a piked position. At the 1983 World Championships and 1984 Olympic Games, she even ended her floor routines with a double back flip with a full twist in a tuck position. This was very rare and impressive for gymnasts at that time. This difficult move helped her win the Olympic gold medal on floor exercise, where she scored a perfect 10.0.

Competitive History

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
Junior
1978	Romanian Championships		6
1980	Chunichi Cup		17
	Junior European Championships				4
	ROM-GBR Dual Meet
	ROM-SUI Dual Meet		6
	Swiss Cup
1981	Daciada
	International Championships of Romania
	International Junior Championships (Tokyo)
	International Junior Championships (Sapporo)
1982	Balkan Championships
	Ennia Gold Cup			4
	International Championships of Romania
	Junior European Championships					4
Senior
1983	Catania Cup
	City of Popes Jr. International
	European Championships
	ESP-ROM Dual Meet
	FRG-ROM Dual Meet
	GBR-ROM Dual Meet
	Gymnastics Hit Parade of Rome
	HOL-ROM Dual Meet
	International Championships of Romania
	Romanian Championships
	World Championships
1984	Balkan Championships
	Chunichi Cup
	ESP-ROM Dual Meet
	Golden Sands International
	International Championships of Romania
	Romanian Championships
	ROM-TCH Dual Meet
	Tokyo Cup
	Olympic Games
1985	Balkan Championships
	DTB Cup					4
	ESP-ROM Dual Meet
	European Championships		5			6	6
	FRA-ROM-SUI Tri-Meet
	Gander Memorial
	HOL-ROM Dual Meet
	International Championships of Romania
	Romanian Championships
	ROM-TCH Dual Meet
	SUI-ROM-FRG Tri-Meet
	Swiss Cup
	Summer Universiade
	World Championships		5		6		4
1986	Balkan Championships
	DTB Cup
	ESP-ROM-BUL Tri-Meet
	Gander Memorial
	Romanian Championships
	ROM-TCH Dual Meet
	World Cup Final		4		5	4
1987	Madrid Grand Prix
	SUI-ROM Dual Meet		4
	Summer Universiade		5
	World Championships		14

See also

In Spanish: Ecaterina Szabo para niños

• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Romania
• List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists
• List of top medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships