Cătălina Ponor

2003–2004

Ponor made her international debut at the 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Anaheim, California, where the Romanian team finished in second place. Individually, she won silver medals on balance beam, scoring 9.587, and floor, scoring 9.700.^[8] In November, she competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Stuttgart, Germany, where she placed first on balance beam (9.587) and third on floor (9.237).^[9]

In March 2004, Ponor competed at the World Cup event in Cottbus, Germany. She placed first on balance beam, scoring 9.700, and second on floor, scoring 9.575.^[10] Later in March, she competed at the World Cup event in Lyon, France, and won silver medals on balance beam and floor, scoring 9.175 and 9.625 respectively.^[11]

At the beginning of May, she helped Romania win the team competition at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Amsterdam. In event finals, she once again placed first on balance beam (9.725) and floor (9.637).^[12]

2005–2007

Ponor competed at the European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, in June 2005. She placed first on balance beam with a score of 9.737 and fourth on floor with a score of 9.200.^[16] That fall, she won a bronze medal on beam (9.500) at the 2005 World Championships in Melbourne.^[17]

In March 2006, she competed at the Cottbus World Cup and placed sixth in the floor final with a score of 13.250.^[18] The following month, at the European Championships in Volos, Greece, she placed first on balance beam (15.800) and third on floor (14.600).^[19]

In 2007, Ponor began training with Mariana Bitang again. She said: "She's the only person who can bring me back to the form I was in. She's the only coach who can guide me to a world title and another Olympic title." Bitang added, "We saw her very determined, and we were very surprised to see her appetite for competition."^[20]

In July, Ponor competed at the Romanian National Championships in Ploiesti, Romania. She placed first on vault with a score of 15.062 and first on balance beam with a score of 16.500.^[21]

In September, Ponor competed at the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart. She helped the Romanian team place third and individually she placed fourth in the balance beam final with a score of 15.700.^[22]

In December, Ponor retired due to ongoing injuries.^[23]

2011–2012

Ponor began training again with the Romanian national team in March 2011. She trained under the newly returned coaches Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang.^[23] At the beginning of August, Ponor had a minor medical procedure to correct a congenital heart defect that was causing an arrhythmia and was able to resume training the same week. She said, "I had a congenital problem I was born with, but I went to the doctor and all is well."^[24]

Ponor competed at the 2011 Romanian National Championships. She placed second on balance beam scoring 15.775 and third on floor exercise scoring 14.625.^[25] Ponor competed at the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo. She contributed scores of 14.933 on vault, 15.166 on balance beam, and 14.633 on floor exericse towards the Romanian team's fourth-place finish and individually she placed seventh in the balance beam final.^[26]

In early 2012 Ponor competed at the 2012 Doha World Challenge Cup. She placed first on balance beam and floor exercise. Ponor said, "I want to do the same thing that I did in 2004. It was hard to make a comeback, but all the time I was thinking that I could do it. I will not relax till I reach my goal."^[27] Ponor next competed at an international meet against France^[28] followed by another friendly meet against Germany and Great Britain.^[29]

In May, Ponor competed at the 2012 European Championships in Brussels. She contributed scores of 15.033 on vault, 15.433 on balance beam, and 14.733 on floor towards the Romanian team's first-place finish. During event finals she placed first on balance beam and second on floor exercise behind compatriot Larisa Iordache.^[30] Bellu said, "You saw the reaction of the fans. A triple Olympic champion gets respect, especially if she performs like this."^[31] She is the gymnast who has won the most balance beam titles at the European Championships: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012 and 2017.^[32]

Ponor next competed at the Ghent World Cup where she won gold on the balance beam. She competed at an international meet against France, Germany, and Italy in Bucharest, Romania where she helped Romania finish first as a team.^[33]

London Olympics

At the end of July, Ponor competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She helped the Romanian team qualify to the team final in fourth place,^[34] and individually, she qualified eighth to the balance beam final and seventh to the floor exercise final, despite making an error her third tumbling pass.^[35] In the team final, she contributed scores of 15.100 on vault, 15.416 on balance beam, and 14.800 on floor exercise toward Romania's third-place finish.^[36] She earned the highest score on balance beam during the team competition.

During the balance beam event final Ponor placed fourth.^[37] She originally was in the third place position, but after American Aly Raisman had an inquiry accepted about her difficulty score, they finished in a tie. However, after the tie-breaking procedure which prioritized execution score, Raisman was awarded the bronze medal. Ponor said, "I will say it again, and I want everyone to know, I will quit without regrets. I have worked every second for my team, I have worked every second for myself, I have worked every second for everybody. I have already been an Olympic champion. I will quit gymnastics with my chin up."^[38]

During the floor exercise final Ponor won the silver medal behind Raiman.^[39]

2015–2017

In February 2015, Ponor registered for the anti-doping control within the International Federation of Gymnastics, which suggested that she might be returning to competition.^[40] She officially announced her comeback in early March.^[41] She told WOGymnastika that by coming back for a third time, she will be risking her biggest failure.^[42] She could not compete in the 2015 European Games in Baku as she was not eligible yet. In September, Ponor made her return in competition by competing in a friendly meet between Romania and France where she helped the Romanian team place first.

Ponor competed at the 2016 Doha World Challenge Cup where she won gold on the balance beam.^[43] In April, she competed at the Olympic Test Event where Romania failed to qualify a full team to the upcoming Olympic Games.^[44] In June, Ponor competed at the 2016 European Championships where she won two bronze medals – on balance beam and floor exercise.

Ponor at the 2016 Romanian National Championships

Romania earned a single Olympic berth for the 2016 Olympic Games; the Romanian Gymnastics Federation announced the spot would either go to Ponor or Larisa Iordache.^[45] Despite Iordache winning the all-around at the Romanian National Championships, the berth was given to Ponor who won the national titles on balance beam and floor exercise. This announcement was made shortly after Ponor was named as Romania's flag bearer for the opening ceremonies, the first time this honor was given to a gymnast.^[46]

During the qualification round at the Olympics Ponor placed fifth on the balance beam and fourteenth on floor exercise, qualifying to the event final on the former. During the balance beam final she placed seventh.^[47]

Ponor continued to compete in 2017. She began the year by winning titles on the balance beam and floor exercise at the 2017 Baku World Cup. One week later she won a silver medal on balance beam at the Doha World Cup. At the 2017 European Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Ponor competed on balance beam and floor exericse. She missed the floor exercise final because her routine lacked a front tumbling connection requirement. However, she qualified to the balance beam final where she won the gold medal emotionally in front of a noisy and appreciative home crowd.^[48]

In October, Ponor competed at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal. During the qualification round she finished twenty-sixth on balance beam and fourteenth on floor exercise, qualifying to neither event final. She ended the year competing at the 2017 Mexico Open where she won a silver medal in the 3-event all-around. Afterwards, Ponor announced her official retirement from competitive gymnastics for the third time.^[49]