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, 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 artistic gymnast from Romania. 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 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She was the most successful athlete at those Games. She helped her team win the gold medal. She also won gold in vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. Later, she led her team to another world title in 1987. This was only the second time Romania beat the Soviet Union in a team competition. In 2000, Szabo was added to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Ecaterina Szabo's Early Life and Career

Ecaterina Szabo was born in Transylvania, Romania. Her first language is Hungarian. She started gymnastics in 1973. She trained at the Gymnastics School in Oneşti. Her first coaches were Maria Cosma and Mihai Agoston. Later, she trained with Márta and Béla Károlyi. After they moved to the United States in 1981, she was coached by Adrian Goreac, Adrian Stan, and Maria Cosma.

Junior Successes

Szabo was very successful as a junior gymnast. She was the first gymnast to win two Junior European all-around titles. She won these in 1980 and 1982. In 1980, she won gold medals on vault, beam, and floor. In 1982, she won gold on vault and floor. She also earned a silver medal on uneven bars.

Ecaterina Szabo's Senior Gymnastics Career

1983: First Big Competitions

Szabo's first major international event was the 1983 European Championships. This competition was held in Goteborg. There, she won gold medals on floor and uneven bars. She also took silver on vault and bronze in the all-around competition.

At the 1983 World Championships, she finished third in the all-around. She scored two perfect tens in this event. One was on floor, and the other was on vault. Besides her all-around bronze, she won gold on floor. She also earned silver medals on vault and uneven bars. She helped her team win a silver medal. She scored perfect tens on floor and uneven bars during the team event.

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, did not attend. This was a response to the 1980 Olympics boycott. Romania was one of the few Eastern Bloc countries that did participate. Without the Soviet gymnasts, Szabo was a top favorite. She had already shown her strength before the Olympics. She scored a perfect 40.0 for her compulsory exercises in a meet in Czechoslovakia.

During the Olympic team competition, Szabo performed very well. She helped her team win their first Olympic title. She also qualified for three individual event finals. These were vault, beam, and floor. Many people thought she would win the all-around title. She was even called "the next Nadia," after Nadia Comăneci. However, she narrowly lost the all-around title to Mary Lou Retton. Szabo received the silver medal.

Despite this, she had a strong comeback in the event finals. She won three gold medals in vault, beam, and floor. Szabo returned home to Romania as a hero. Later that year, she was named the most successful athlete in Romania.

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. She also placed fifth in the all-around. At the 1985 World Championships, she won silver medals on beam, vault, and with her team. She placed fifth in the all-around.

However, in 1987, Szabo's hard work paid off. She was part of the very successful Romanian team. At the 1987 World Championships, her team won the gold medal. They beat the Soviet team, which was a huge achievement. Individually, Szabo tied for bronze on beam. She finished 14th in the all-around.

Life After Gymnastics

After the 1987 World Championships, Szabo retired from gymnastics. She went to study at the University of Physical and Sports Education in Bucharest. After graduating, she became a coach in Deva. She coached future champions like Maria Olaru.

In 1991, Szabo married Christian Tamas. He was a former member of Romania's kayak team. They have two sons, Lorenzo and Zeno. In 1992, her family moved to Chamalieres, France. She now works there as a gymnastics coach.

Honors and Recognition

In 2005, Szabo was featured in a documentary series. It was called Székely Athletes from East to West. A film about her was titled The Comet of Zagon. In 2007, a kindergarten in her hometown of Zagon was named after her. It is called the Szabó Kati Óvoda. In 2008, the sports hall in Sfântu Gheorghe was also renamed in her honor.

Szabo in 2017

Ecaterina Szabo's Gymnastics Skills

Szabo was a strong all-around gymnast. She had a very clean and artistic style. She earned 17 perfect scores of ten between 1983 and 1984.

Vault and Beam Skills

On the balance beam, she performed a tucked backward salto with a full twist. This was a very difficult move.

Floor Exercise Skills

On the floor exercise, she performed complex tumbling passes. One example was a 1½ twist back salto to another 1½ twist back salto. She also started her floor routine with a double back flip with a full twist in a piked position. This was a very advanced move for her time. At the 1983 Worlds and 1984 Olympic Games, she also ended her routine with a double back flip with a full twist. This helped her win the Olympic gold medal on floor. She received a perfect 10.0 for that performance.

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