Cătălina Ponor is a gymnast who has competed for Romania. She competed at the 2004, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Ponor arrived at her first Olympics in 2004 as a top medal favorite in the apparatus and all-around routines. She contributed scores on the vault, balance beam, and floor to help the Romanian women successfully defend their team all-around title. She returned to the apparatus finals to claim two more golds in the floor exercise and balance beam. Ponor became the first Romanian gymnast to win three gold medals at a single Olympiad since Daniela Silivaș attained the feat in 1988.
Ponor retired from the sport in December 2007 because of ongoing injuries but returned to training with the Romanian women's gymnastics team four years later to prepare for her second Olympic bid. Eight years since her Olympic debut, she was officially selected to the Romanian team for her second Olympic appearance in London. There, she posted the highest mark on the balance beam to secure a podium spot for the Romanian women with a bronze in the team all-around. On the individual apparatus side, she added a silver to her career medal tally on the floor exercise. She tied for the third spot with the American favorite Alexandra Raisman on the balance beam but a higher execution score based on the tie-breaking procedure rules awarded the latter a bronze medal, with Ponor dropping out of the podium to fourth.
When her team failed to register a spot in the team all-around for Rio de Janeiro 2016, Ponor was selected as the lone Romanian gymnast on the women's side. She struggled to recapture her best form for another medal contention, finishing seventh in the balance beam final. She was also named as Romania's flag bearer during the opening ceremony, marking the first time for a gymnast to have accepted the role.
Olympic Results[]
Year | Event | Result |
---|---|---|
2004 | Women's individual all-around | 64th |
Women's team | ||
Women's floor | ||
Women's vault | Q5 | |
Women's balance beam | ||
2012 | Women's team | |
Women's floor | ||
Women's balance beam | 4th | |
2016 | Women's floor | 14th |
Women's balance beam | 7th |
2004[]
Discipline | Stage | Score |
---|---|---|
Individual all-around | Qualification | 28.962 |
Final | Did not advance | |
Team | Qualification | 152.436 (28.962) |
Final | 114.283 (28.924) | |
Floor | Qualification | 9.687 |
Final | 9.750 | |
Vault | Qualification | 9.500 |
Final | Did not advance | |
Balance beam | Qualification | 9.775 |
Final | 9.787 |
2012[]
Discipline | Stage | Score |
---|---|---|
Team | Qualification | 176.264 (44.766) |
Final | 176.414 (30.300) | |
Floor | Qualification | 14.600 |
Final | 15.200 | |
Balance beam | Qualification | 15.033 |
Final | 15.066 |
2016[]
Discipline | Stage | Score |
---|---|---|
Floor | Qualification | 14.200 |
Final | Did not advance | |
Balance beam | Qualification | 14.900 |
Final | 14.000 |