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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| Residence | Madrid, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.51 m (4 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||
| Level | Senior International Elite | ||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 2012–16, 2019–present (ESP) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 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 competes for Spain. Roxana has been a key member of the Spain women's national gymnastics team. She has competed in many big events, including the World Championships in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019. She also represented Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics!
Contents
Roxana's Early Years
Roxana Popa was born on June 2, 1997, in Constanța, Romania. 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 couldn't get any medals. This was because she didn't have her Spanish citizenship yet. Her story was even shown in a TV documentary! Luckily, in mid-2008, she officially became a Spanish citizen.
After that, Roxana faced a tough 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
In 2012, Roxana represented Spain at the European Championships. She did very well, making it to the finals for the all-around competition and the vault. She finished sixth in the vault final and eleventh in the all-around.
Senior Gymnastics Career
Starting Senior Competitions (2013)
Roxana became a senior gymnast in 2013. She competed at the Cottbus World Cup but didn't make any finals. Later that month, she joined the Spanish team for the European Championships. There, she qualified fifth in the all-around and seventh in the floor exercise final. She ended up placing sixth in the all-around and seventh on floor.
In June, she competed at the Mediterranean Games, finishing fifth on the uneven bars. By the end of summer, she was chosen for the World Championships. She qualified tenth for the all-around final and placed twelfth. After the World Championships, Roxana won a gold medal in the all-around at the Mexico Open. She finished the season at the Glasgow World Cup, placing fifth.
A Busy Year (2014)
The year 2014 was very busy for Roxana. She competed at the American Cup and finished sixth in the all-around. At the Tokyo World Cup, she won a silver medal, coming in second place.
She also helped Spain win a team bronze medal at a friendly competition against Great Britain and Germany, where she also won all-around gold. In May, she won gold in almost every event at the Spanish Cup. A few weeks later, at the European Championships, her team placed sixth. She also finished seventh on floor exercise and eighth on uneven bars.
In July, Roxana won the all-around title at the Spanish Nationals. She also took home gold medals on every individual event except 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 Joaquim Blume Memorial. However, she then suffered a serious knee injury during training, which was diagnosed as a torn ACL and meniscus rip. This required surgery and kept her out of competition for a long time. Doctors later found out it was an old injury that hadn't been noticed before.
Coming Back from Injury (2015–2018)
Roxana returned to competition in October 2015 at the Novara Cup, competing only on the uneven bars. The Spanish team finished fourth. Later that month, she competed at the World Championships, again only on uneven bars.
In March 2016, Roxana re-injured her right knee, which 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 she might not be able to compete again. Because of these injuries, Roxana did not compete for three years.
A Strong Return (2019)
After three years away, Roxana announced in January 2019 that she would make a comeback! She started by competing on the balance beam at the Spanish League. She slowly added more events, showing great progress on the uneven bars. At the Spanish League Finals, she even vaulted for the first time since 2014 and 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 all-around and won a silver medal on the uneven bars.
Her international comeback was at the Szombathely Challenge Cup, where she won a bronze medal on the uneven bars. She then helped Spain finish second at the 2nd Heerenveen Friendly.
At the 2019 World Championships, Roxana and her teammates finished twelfth. Even though they didn't make the team final, they did something amazing: they qualified a team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo! This was the first time Spain had a full women's gymnastics team at the Olympics since 2004. Individually, Roxana also qualified for the floor exercise final and finished sixth.
Olympic Dreams and Beyond (2020-2021)
In 2020, Roxana continued to train hard. She had top scores on uneven bars and balance beam at the 2nd Spanish League.
In June 2021, Roxana won a gold medal on floor at the FIT Challenge. She was then chosen for the Spanish Olympic team for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics. The team finished twelfth in qualifications. Individually, Roxana qualified for the all-around final and finished twenty-second.
After the Olympics, Roxana continued to shine. At the 2nd Spanish League, she had the highest scores on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam, helping her club win a silver medal. She then won the all-around title at the Spanish Championships. At the Spanish League Finals, she won gold on the uneven bars and helped her club finish second.
Recent Competitions (2022-2023)
In November 2022, Roxana returned to competition at the 1st Spanish League, competing on uneven bars. In February 2023, she competed on uneven bars and balance beam at the 2nd Spanish League, helping her club finish fourth.
Personal Life
Roxana is very good with languages! Besides her first language, Romanian, she also speaks Spanish and English fluently. Her gymnastics heroes are famous Romanian gymnasts like Nadia Comăneci, Cătălina Ponor, and Larisa Iordache.
Beyond gymnastics, Roxana has also been involved in dancing since she was seven years old. She has even competed in national dance competitions! While she was recovering from her knee injuries, she taught dance at a school in Madrid.
Roxana has shared that during her three years away from gymnastics due to her knee injuries, she faced some tough emotional challenges.
See also
In Spanish: Roxana Popa para niños
