Roxana Popa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Roxana Popa |
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Popa in 2014
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Roxana Daniela Popa Nedelcu | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Roxi | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country represented |  Spain |
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| Born | 2 June 1997 Constanța, Constanța County, Dobruja, Romania |
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| Height | 1.51 m (4 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2012–2016, 2019–2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Los Cantos Alcorcon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gym | CARD | ||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach(es) | Lucia Guisado | ||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 30 May 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Roxana Daniela Popa Nedelcu (born June 2, 1997) is a talented artistic gymnast. She was born in Romania but became a Spanish citizen. Roxana was a key member of the Spain women's national gymnastics team. She competed in many big events, including the World Championships in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019. She also represented Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Roxana Popa retired from gymnastics on May 30, 2024.
Contents
Early Life and Spanish Citizenship
Roxana Popa was born in Constanța, Romania, on June 2, 1997. She started gymnastics when she was just four years old. When she was six, her family moved to Madrid, Spain.
In 2008, Roxana competed in the Spanish Championships. Even though she won every event, she could not receive any medals. This was because she did not yet have her Spanish citizenship. This story was even shown in a TV documentary called Informe Robinson. Luckily, in the middle of 2008, she officially became a Spanish citizen.
After getting her citizenship, Roxana faced a challenge. She hurt her elbow while training on the uneven bars. This injury needed two surgeries and a lot of recovery time. It kept her from competing for a few years.
Junior Gymnastics Career
Roxana Popa represented Spain at the 2012 European Championships. This was a big competition for junior gymnasts. She did very well, making it to the finals for the all-around and vault events. She finished sixth in the vault final and eleventh in the all-around competition.
Senior Gymnastics Career
Starting as a Senior in 2013
Roxana became a senior gymnast in 2013. Her first senior competition was the Cottbus World Cup. Later that month, she joined the Spanish team for the European Championships. There, she placed sixth in the all-around and seventh on the floor exercise.
In June, she competed at the Mediterranean Games. She finished fifth on the uneven bars. At the end of the summer, she went to the World Championships. She placed twelfth in the all-around final. After the World Championships, Roxana won a gold medal in the all-around at the Mexico Open. She finished her season at the Glasgow World Cup, placing fifth.
Competing in 2014
In 2014, Roxana competed in the American Cup and the Tokyo World Cup. She finished sixth in the all-around at the American Cup. At the Tokyo World Cup, she earned a silver medal, coming in second place.
She also competed in a friendly competition against gymnasts from Great Britain and Germany. She won the all-around gold medal and helped her team win a bronze medal. In May, she won almost every event at the Spanish Cup. A few weeks later, she competed at the European Championships. Her team finished sixth, and she placed seventh on floor exercise and eighth on uneven bars.
In July, Roxana won the all-around title at the Spanish Nationals. She also won gold medals on every individual event except the balance beam, where she won silver. At the World Championships, she finished thirteenth in the all-around final.
After the World Championships, Roxana won another all-around gold medal at the Joaquin Blume Memorial. However, she then faced a serious injury. She hurt her knee during training and had to withdraw from a competition. Doctors found that she had a torn ACL and meniscus, which needed surgery. They also discovered it was an old injury that had not been noticed before.
Injuries and Comeback: 2015-2018
Roxana returned to competition in October 2015. She competed on the uneven bars at the Novara Cup. Later that month, she competed at the World Championships, but only on uneven bars.
In March 2016, Roxana re-injured her right knee. This injury prevented her from trying to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. She had several surgeries on her knee. In 2017, she had a third surgery to fix her ACL. Doctors even told her that she might not be able to compete again. Because of these injuries, Roxana did not compete for three years.
Return to Gymnastics in 2019
After a long break, Roxana announced in January 2019 that she would return to gymnastics. She started by competing on the balance beam at the 1st Spanish League. She slowly added more events. She vaulted for the first time since 2014 at the Spanish League Finals, where she won gold on the uneven bars.
Roxana competed in the all-around for the first time since 2014 at the Spanish Championships. She finished fourth in the all-around and won a silver medal on the uneven bars. She also made her international comeback at the Szombathely Challenge Cup, winning a bronze medal on the uneven bars.
At the 2019 World Championships, Roxana and her teammates finished twelfth. This was a very important result because it meant Spain qualified a team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. This was the first time Spain had a full team at the Olympics since 2004! Individually, Roxana qualified for the floor exercise final and finished sixth.
Olympic Games and Final Competitions: 2020-2024
In June 2021, Roxana won a gold medal on floor at the FIT Challenge. She was then chosen for the Spanish women's artistic gymnastics team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The team finished twelfth in qualifications. Roxana also qualified for the all-around final, where she finished twenty-second.
After the Olympics, Roxana continued to compete in the Spanish League. She had high scores on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She also won the all-around title at the Spanish Championships.
In November 2022, Roxana returned to competition at the 1st Spanish League. She mostly competed on uneven bars and balance beam in 2022 and 2023.
Roxana Popa announced her retirement from gymnastics on May 30, 2024.
Personal Life
Roxana speaks three languages: her native Romanian, Spanish, and English. Her gymnastics heroes are famous Romanian gymnasts like Nadia Comăneci, Cătălina Ponor, and Larisa Iordache.
Besides gymnastics, Roxana has also been involved in dancing since she was seven years old. She even competed in national dance competitions. While she was recovering from her knee injuries, she taught dance at a school in Madrid. Roxana shared that during her three years away from gymnastics due to injuries, she also faced challenges with her feelings.
See also
In Spanish: Roxana Popa para niños
