Larisa Iordache facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Larisa Iordache
Iordache in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Larisa Andreea Iordache
Nickname(s)	Lari, Pikachu, Piciul
Born	(1996-06-19) 19 June 1996 (age 29) Bucharest, Romania
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	2008–2021 (ROU)
Club	CSS Dinamo
Head coach(es)	Octavian Bellu, Mariana Bitang
Former coach(es)	Octavian Bellu, Mariana Bitang, Lacramioara Moldovan, Claudiu Moldovan, Gheorghe Orban, Ramona Micu, Adela Popa, Daniel Nistor, Aurica Nistor
Choreographer	Corina Dorean
Music	"Exosuit" from The Huntsman: Winter's War
Retired	16 December 2021
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 0 1 World Championships 0 2 2 European Championships 7 7 2 Summer Universiade 2 0 1 Representing  Romania Olympic Games Bronze 2012 London Team World Championships Silver 2014 Nanning All-Around Silver 2014 Nanning Floor Exercise Bronze 2013 Antwerp Floor Exercise Bronze 2015 Glasgow All-Around European Championships Gold 2012 Brussels Team Gold 2012 Brussels Floor Exercise Gold 2013 Moscow Balance Beam Gold 2014 Sofia Team Gold 2014 Sofia Floor Exercise Gold 2020 Mersin Balance Beam Gold 2020 Mersin Floor Exercise Silver 2012 Brussels Balance Beam Silver 2013 Moscow All-Around Silver 2013 Moscow Vault Silver 2013 Moscow Floor Exercise Silver 2014 Sofia Balance Beam Silver 2020 Mersin Team Silver 2020 Mersin Vault Bronze 2014 Sofia Vault Bronze 2017 Cluj-Napoca Balance Beam Summer Universiade Gold 2017 Taipei All-Around Gold 2017 Taipei Floor Exercise Bronze 2017 Taipei Balance Beam FIG World Cup Event 1st 2nd 3rd All-Around World Cup 3 1 1 Apparatus World Cup 4 2 0 World Challenge Cup 6 1 1

Larisa Andreea Iordache is a talented former gymnast from Romania. She was born on June 19, 1996. Larisa won a bronze medal with her team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She also competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Even when she was young, the Romanian news called Larisa "The New Nadia". This was because of her amazing skills. In her first year as a senior gymnast in 2012, Larisa won two gold medals at the European Championships. She won with her team and for her performance on the floor exercise.

Larisa has won many medals throughout her career. She earned silver medals in the all-around and on floor exercise at the 2014 World Championships. She also won bronze medals in the all-around at the 2015 World Championships and on floor exercise at the 2013 World Championships.

She was the European champion on the balance beam in 2013. In 2014, she was the most successful gymnast at the European Championships. She won gold with her team and on floor exercise. She also took silver on balance beam and bronze on vault. In 2020, after a three-year break, she made a big comeback. She won gold medals on balance beam and floor exercise at the European Championships. She also earned a silver medal with her team and on vault.

Larisa Iordache has won sixteen medals at the European Championships. This makes her the second most decorated gymnast at this level, after Svetlana Khorkina. She also won twelve gold medals in World Cups. In 2017, she was the champion in the all-around and on floor exercise at the Universiade.

Early Life and Training

Larisa Iordache was born in Bucharest, Romania, where she still lives. Her mother was a handball player, and her father played football. She has an older brother, Răzvan, who also plays football.

Larisa started gymnastics after her first coach, Mariana Câmpeanu-Silişteanu, saw her rollerblading. Her coach asked Larisa's mother to enroll her in gymnastics classes. Even though her mother was not sure at first, Larisa began gymnastics at age five. Larisa said, "I didn't choose gymnastics – it chose me. It just happened. I am very glad to have got so far." She also shared that on her first day, she was too scared to go into the gym. But after three days, she went in and fell in love with gymnastics.

Larisa began her training at CSS Dinamo Club in Bucharest. She joined the junior national team in 2008. At that time, people in Romania started comparing her to Nadia Comăneci. Nadia was the 1976 Olympic all-around champion. Larisa later said she felt honored by the comparison. However, she believes every gymnast is unique and should not be compared to others.

Junior Gymnastics Career

Larisa Iordache started competing internationally as a junior in 2009. Her first big event was the Top Gym Trophy in Charleroi, Belgium. She helped her team win a bronze medal. Individually, she won gold medals in the all-around and on the balance beam.

2010 Competitions

Larisa's first major international competition was the European Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Her scores helped the Romanian team finish second. Larisa won a bronze medal in the all-around final. In the individual event finals, she placed fourth on vault. She earned a silver medal on balance beam and tied for first on floor exercise.

In September, Larisa competed at the Romanian Championships. She won the all-around competition by a large margin. In October, she competed in France. She won the all-around final there too. She also placed second on vault and first on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.

2011 Competitions

In May 2011, Larisa competed as a guest at the French Team Championships. Her scores helped her team finish first. In June, she competed at the Gym Festival in Trnava, Slovakia. She won the all-around final, finishing almost two points ahead of two-time Olympian Anna Pavlova. In the event finals, she won gold medals on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. Later that month, she competed against Great Britain. The Romanian team won, and Larisa took the all-around title.

In July, Larisa competed at the 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Turkey. Her scores helped the Romanian team finish second. Larisa won the all-around final by over two points. In the event finals, she won silver medals on vault and uneven bars. She also won gold medals on balance beam and floor exercise.

Senior Gymnastics Career

Larisa Iordache became old enough to compete as a senior in 2012.

2012: Olympic Debut

In March 2012, Larisa competed at the American Cup in New York City. She placed third in the all-around. Later in March, she competed at the World Cup in Doha, Qatar. She placed fourth in the uneven bars final.

In April, Larisa competed in friendly meets against France and then against Germany and the United Kingdom. She helped Romania win the team competitions in both. Individually, she won the all-around titles in both meets.

In May, Larisa competed at the 2012 European Championships in Brussels, Belgium. Her scores helped the Romanian team win first place. In the individual event finals, she won a silver medal on balance beam and a gold medal on floor exercise. In July, she competed in a friendly meet in her hometown, Bucharest. Romania won the team competition, and Larisa won the all-around.

London Olympics

Iordache (second from the left) with the 2012 Romanian Olympic team

In July 2012, Larisa represented Romania at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Before the competition, she developed a foot injury called plantar fasciitis, which caused severe pain. Her coach, Mariana Bitang, was unsure if Larisa would be able to compete in all events.

Larisa did compete in all four events in the qualification round. She helped Romania finish fourth. She qualified for the all-around final in ninth place. In the team final, her scores helped the Romanian team win a bronze medal. They finished behind Russia and the United States. After the team final, Larisa said, "You always want to do better, but any Olympic medal is important for a team. We are happy." She placed ninth in the all-around final and sixth in the balance beam final. The Olympics were her last competition of the season.

2013: World and European Medals

At the 2013 Doha World Cup, Larisa placed second on vault and seventh on uneven bars. She won first place on balance beam and second on floor exercise.

At the 2013 European Championships in Moscow, Larisa qualified first for the all-around and balance beam finals. She also qualified for the floor exercise and vault finals. In the all-around final, she won the silver medal. In the vault final, she tied for the silver medal. She also won the silver medal in the floor exercise final and the gold medal in the balance beam final. Later, at the 2013 Anadia World Cup, Larisa won gold medals on both balance beam and floor exercise.

In October, Larisa competed at the 2013 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. She finished fourth in the all-around final after falling from the balance beam. She also fell in the balance beam final and placed seventh. However, in the floor exercise final, she won the bronze medal.

After the World Championships, Larisa competed in several events. She won gold in the all-around at the Arthur Gander Memorial. She also won gold with her teammate Andrei Muntean at the Swiss Cup. At the Elite Gym Massilia in France, she won gold in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise, and silver on vault. She then won silver in the all-around at the Stuttgart World Cup. Her last competition of the season was the Glasgow World Cup, where she won gold in the all-around.

2014: European and World Success

Iordache at the 2014 European Championships

In March 2014, Larisa competed at the Doha World Cup. She won gold medals on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise. In April, she helped her team win gold at a friendly meet against France and Belgium. She had the highest scores on every event and won the all-around title.

At the 2014 European Championships, Larisa won four medals, making her the most decorated gymnast there. She was the only gymnast to qualify for all four individual event finals. In the team finals, the Romanian team won the gold medal. In the individual event finals, she won a bronze medal on vault. She placed sixth on uneven bars. She won a silver medal on balance beam and tied for gold on floor exercise.

Iordache (center) with Diana Bulimar and Sandra Izbașa in 2014

The Romanian National Championships were held in August. Larisa won four out of five gold medals. She won the all-around competition by almost four points. The only gold she did not win was on the balance beam, where she took silver. In September, she competed in a friendly meet in Switzerland. The Romanian team finished second, and Larisa won the all-around competition.

In October, Larisa was chosen for the 2014 World Championships in China. The Romanian team finished fourth. Individually, Larisa won a silver medal in the all-around competition. She said, "It is a good result. I am quite pleased with what I did today, but that does not mean I can not do even better." In the balance beam final, she fell and finished fifth. Later, she won the silver medal in the floor exercise final.

After the World Championships, she competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial, placing second. She then competed at the Swiss Cup, where her team placed seventh. She also competed in the Stuttgart and Glasgow World Cups. In Stuttgart, she won the all-around title. In Glasgow, Larisa had the highest score on every event and won the all-around gold.

2015: Comeback from Injury

Larisa was supposed to compete at the World Cups in Doha and Cottbus, but she had to withdraw due to an ankle injury. She also missed the 2015 European Championships and the 2015 European Games because of the same injury and school exams.

Iordache in 2015

Larisa returned to competition on September 12 at a friendly competition between Romania and France. She won the all-around gold and helped Romania win the team gold. At the Romanian National Championships, Larisa won gold with her club team and in the all-around. She also won gold on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. In October, Larisa competed at the Novara Cup in Italy. The Romanian team won the gold medal, and Larisa won the all-around.

Larisa was chosen for the 2015 World Championships. In the qualification round, Larisa had a difficult performance. The Romanian team finished in thirteenth place, which meant they did not directly qualify for the 2016 Olympics. Larisa and her teammates were very upset. However, in the all-around final, Larisa won the bronze medal. She explained, "I feel much better now than Friday, but I want much more, all the time. It was so hard for me. But I have my coach, my parents, my girls and my team with me. Today was good for me."

After the World Championships, Larisa competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial, where she won the all-around gold medal. At the Swiss Cup, she competed with Marius Berbecar, and they won the silver medal.

2016: Olympic Alternate

In March 2016, Larisa broke a bone in her hand during balance beam training and needed surgery. She missed the Olympic Test Event in April, and Romania did not qualify a full team for the Olympics. In May, Larisa needed another surgery for her hand injury.

She returned to competition in July at the National Championships. She competed despite having a concussion during training. She won the gold medal in the all-around and on the uneven bars. She also won the silver medal on the balance beam. She hurt her knee during her uneven bars routine and withdrew from the floor exercise final. Larisa was officially named the alternate for the Olympic Games. After the Olympics, she confirmed that she would continue to compete.

2017: More Medals and Injury

Larisa started her 2017 season at the Sainté Gym Cup in France. She only competed on uneven bars and balance beam, winning gold on uneven bars and silver on balance beam. She was chosen for the European Championships in Romania. She was not ready to compete in the all-around, so she only competed on uneven bars and balance beam. She qualified first for the balance beam final. In the balance beam final, she won the bronze medal.

In May, Larisa competed at the World Cup in Koper. She decided to perform only on balance beam and uneven bars. Larisa won gold in both finals. She was then chosen to represent Romania at the 2017 Summer Universiade. She competed in the all-around for the first time that year and qualified in second place. In the all-around final, she won the gold medal. In the event finals, she placed fifth on uneven bars. She won the bronze medal on balance beam and the gold medal on floor exercise.

At the Romanian Championships, Larisa won the gold medal in the all-around by a large margin. She also won gold medals on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. She then competed at the Paris World Cup. She placed fourth on uneven bars, won gold on balance beam, and silver on floor exercise.

In October, Larisa traveled to Montreal for the 2017 World Championships. However, she suffered an Achilles tendon tear during warm-ups for the qualification round. She flew back to Romania and had surgery. She had a second surgery on her Achilles tendon a month and a half later.

2018–2019: Recovery and Comeback

In June 2018, Larisa shared that her recovery was slow. In September 2018, she had her third surgery on her Achilles tendon. In January 2019, after a final check-up, she was told she could train fully again. Larisa officially announced her return to elite gymnastics.

2020: European Champion Again

In October 2020, Larisa announced she had tested positive for COVID-19. This meant she missed a competition that would have been her first in three years. Her symptoms were mild. In November, Larisa made her comeback at the Romanian National Championships. She had the fourth-highest all-around score. Soon after, she was named to Romania's team for the 2020 European Championships.

At the European Championships, the Romanian team won the silver medal. Larisa won the silver medal on vault and placed fourth on uneven bars. Then, she won gold medals on both balance beam and floor exercise.

2021: Tokyo Olympics and Retirement

In April 2021, Larisa competed at the 2021 European Championships. This was her last chance to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Despite waking up with severe stomach pain and being advised by doctors to withdraw, Larisa competed. She qualified for the Olympics. She also qualified in first place for the balance beam final and sixth place for the floor exercise final. However, she later withdrew from the finals due to a kidney infection that required hospitalization. She had to take two weeks off training. At the end of the European Championships, Larisa received the Shooting Star award. This award is given to gymnasts who have an inspiring story.

Larisa competed at the Cairo World Challenge Cup in June. She won the gold medal on the balance beam and the bronze medal on the uneven bars. She had planned to compete at another event, but she withdrew after her mother passed away from a long illness.

Tokyo Olympics

Larisa qualified to represent Romania at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. On July 21, it was announced that she would only compete on the balance beam due to an ankle injury. She qualified for the balance beam final in fourth place. However, she withdrew from the final because of her ankle injury.

In December 2021, Larisa had surgery on her ankle. On December 16, 2021, she announced her retirement from gymnastics on her Instagram account.

Competitive History

Competitive history of Larisa Iordache at the junior level

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2009	Top Gym Trophy				7
2010
	Junior European Championships
	Romanian Championships
	Schiltigheim International
2011	French Championships
	Gym Festival
	ROU-GBR Friendly
	European Youth Olympic Festival

Competitive history of Larisa Iordache at the senior level

Year	Event	Team	AA	VT	UB	BB	FX
2012	American Cup
	Doha World Challenge Cup				4
	FRA-ROU Friendly
	GER-GBR-ROU Friendly
	European Championships
	FRA-GER-ITA-ROU Friendly
	Olympic Games		9			6
2013	Doha World Challenge Cup				7
	European Championships
	Anadia World Challenge Cup
	World Championships		4			7
	Arthur Gander Memorial
	Swiss Cup
	Elite Gym Massilia
	Stuttgart World Cup
	Glasgow World Cup
2014	Doha World Challenge Cup
	BEL-FRA-ROU Friendly
	European Championships				6
	Romanian Championships
	SUI-GER-ROU Friendly
	World Championships	4				5
	Arthur Gander Memorial
	Swiss Cup	7
	Stuttgart World Cup
	Glasgow World Cup
2015	FRA-ROU Friendly
	Romanian Championships
	Novara Cup
	World Championships
	Arthur Gander Memorial
	Swiss Cup
2016	Romanian Championships
	FRA-ROU Friendly
	Chemnitz Friendly		9
2017
	European Championships
	Koper World Challenge Cup
	French Championships
	Summer Universiade				5
	Romanian Championships
	Paris World Challenge Cup				4
2018	Did not compete
2019
2020
	European Championships				4
2021
	European Championships		WD			WD	WD
	Cairo World Challenge Cup
	Olympic Games					WD

See also

In Spanish: Larisa Iordache para niños

• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Romania