Gina Gogean facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gina Gogean
Personal information
Full name	Gina Gogean
Country represented	Romania
Born	(1977-09-09) 9 September 1977 (age 47) Câmpuri, Vrancea County, Romania
Height	150 cm (4 ft 11 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	1989–1998 (ROM)
Club	CSS Focșani
Head coach(es)	Octavian Bellu
Assistant coach(es)	Mariana Bitang, Nicolae Forminte, Toma Ponoran
Former coach(es)	Tatiana and Sergiu Popa
Eponymous skills	Floor: Tour jeté with additional 1/1 turn (360°), landing on one or both feet
Medal record Representing  Romania Olympic Games Silver 1992 Barcelona Team Silver 1996 Atlanta All-Around Bronze 1996 Atlanta Team Bronze 1996 Atlanta Balance Beam Bronze 1996 Atlanta Vault World Championships Gold 1994 Brisbane Vault Gold 1994 Dortmund Team Gold 1995 Sabae Team Gold 1995 Sabae Floor Exercise Gold 1996 San Juan Floor Exercise Gold 1996 San Juan Vault Gold 1997 Lausanne Team Gold 1997 Lausanne Balance Beam Gold 1997 Lausanne Floor Exercise Silver 1993 Birmingham All-Around Silver 1993 Birmingham Floor Exercise Bronze 1993 Birmingham Balance Beam Bronze 1994 Brisbane Floor Exercise Bronze 1995 Sabae Vault Bronze 1997 Lausanne Vault World Cup Final Silver 1998 Sabae Vault Silver 1998 Sabae Floor Exercise Bronze 1998 Sabae Balance Beam European Championships Gold 1992 Nantes Floor Exercise Gold 1994 Stockholm Team Gold 1994 Stockholm All-Around Gold 1994 Stockholm Balance Beam Gold 1996 Birmingham Team Silver 1992 Nantes All-Around Silver 1992 Nantes Vault Silver 1996 Birmingham Vault Silver 1996 Birmingham Balance Beam Bronze 1994 Stockholm Floor Exercise

Gina Elena Gogean (born September 9, 1977) is a famous retired artistic gymnast from Romania. She competed internationally from the late 1980s through the 1990s. Gina won an amazing 30 medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships, and European Championships.

She was especially good at floor exercise, vault, and balance beam. She became a world champion three times on floor and twice on vault. In 1997, she also won a world title on balance beam. Gina was a fantastic all-around gymnast too. She won the European all-around title in 1994 and an Olympic silver medal in 1996. She also earned a silver medal at the 1993 World Championships.

Gina helped the Romanian team win three World Championship titles in a row (1994, 1995, and 1997). She also helped them win two Olympic team medals: a silver in 1992 and a bronze in 1996. In 2013, Gina Gogean was honored by being added to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She was known for her amazing consistency and how long she stayed at the top of the sport. This made her a key part of the Romanian team in the 1990s.

Early Life and Training

Gina Gogean started her gymnastics journey at a young age. She trained at CSS Focșani, which was close to her home village. Her first coaches were Sergiu and Tatiana Popa.

She made her first international appearance in 1989 at the Japan Junior International meet. There, she placed fourth in the all-around competition. She also won a gold medal on the floor exercise, showing her talent early on.

Becoming a Senior Gymnast

By 1990, Gina was already representing Romania at big events like the Goodwill Games. She really started to get noticed at the 1992 European Championships. At this competition, she won the gold medal on floor exercise. She also earned silver medals in the all-around and on vault. People were very impressed by how difficult her routines were for such a young athlete.

1992 Barcelona Olympics

Gina was just as impressive at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She was the youngest member of the experienced Romanian team. Gina scored some of the highest points for her team during the competition. She helped her team win a silver medal. Individually, she finished sixth in the all-around and fifth on vault. Even though her teammate Lavinia Miloșovici was a big star at these Olympics, Gina showed everyone that she was a gymnast to watch in the future.

World Championships Success

Gymnasts often face challenges as they grow, but Gina continued to be one of the best in the world year after year. Her gymnastics kept getting better, and her results showed it. At the 1993 World Championships, she came in a very close second in the all-around. She lost by only 0.007 points to her rival, Shannon Miller. Gina also won a silver medal on floor exercise and a bronze on balance beam that year.

The next year, in 1994, she didn't win an all-around medal, finishing fourth. However, she became the World Champion on vault, which was her first gold medal at the World Championships. She also won a bronze medal on floor. That same year, she became the European All-Around champion. Gina played a very important role in helping the Romanian team win the 1994 Team World Championship. This was Romania's first team world title since 1987.

During the 1994 team competition, Gina had a scary moment on the balance beam. She slipped and hit her head on the beam before falling to the floor. Amazingly, she wasn't hurt. She took a moment to get herself together and then bravely got back on the beam to finish her routine.

More World Titles

Even though Gina faced some challenges in the all-around competitions in 1995 and 1996, her gymnastics skills kept improving. She won even more individual event World titles. At the 1995 World Championships, she helped the Romanian team win their second team title. She also won a bronze medal on vault and a gold medal on floor.

In 1996, she added two more gold medals to her collection at the World Championships, winning on vault and floor. A few weeks later, at the European Championships, she won the team gold. She also earned silver medals on vault and balance beam.

1996 Atlanta Olympics

Going into the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Romanian team was expected to win the team gold medal. However, the team had several injuries and was short on gymnasts. Their performance in the team competition was not as strong as expected, and they ended up with a bronze medal.

Despite the team's challenges, Gina had a very strong performance in the all-around competition. She won the silver medal, finishing just behind Lilia Podkopayeva from Ukraine. Gina also won two more bronze medals on the vault and balance beam.

Her performances at the 1996 Olympics were especially impressive because she had emergency surgery only five weeks before the competition. She had to travel to Bucharest for a special surgery that would allow her to return to training quickly. A traditional surgery would have meant a much longer recovery, and she would have missed the Olympics.

Retirement and Legacy

Gina Gogean continued to compete even after her teammate Lavinia Miloșovici retired. During the 1997 World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, Gina mentioned that the new scoring rules made gymnastics very difficult for her. She planned to retire after that competition. Even so, she led the Romanian team to their third straight world team title. Gina herself finished just off the podium in fourth place in the all-around. She then bounced back to win the world title on balance beam and her third straight title on floor.

Gina never won an Olympic gold medal, but she finished her career with an incredible thirty Olympic, World, and European medals. Fourteen of these were gold medals.

Gina's Special Skill

Gina Gogean has a gymnastics skill named after her in the Code of Points. This is a special book that lists and describes all the gymnastics elements.

Life After Gymnastics

Gina Gogean retired from gymnastics after the 1998 World Cup. At that event, she won medals in all three of her events. After she finished her studies, she became a coach in Romania and later in Scotland. She also worked as a television commentator for gymnastics events. Since 2001, she has regularly worked as a gymnastics judge.

In 2000, she received a special award called the Cross of Faithful Service, 1st class, from the then-President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu.

On July 1, 2006, Gina married Cristian Gorza, who was a former classmate. The ceremony took place in Deva, Romania. Her former coaches, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang, were the godparents at their wedding. Her teammates Andreea Răducan and Maria Olaru were also among the guests.

See also

In Spanish: Gina Gogean para niños

• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Romania
• List of top Olympic gymnastics medalists
• List of top medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships