Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon or rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordinated. Rhythmic gymnastics is governed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), which first recognized it as a sport in 1963. It became an Olympic sport in 1984, with an individual all-around event. The group all-around competition was added to the Olympics in 1996. At the international level, rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only sport. The most prestigious competitions, besides the Olympic Games, are the World Championships, World Games, European Championships, European Games, the World Cup Series and the Grand Prix Series. Gymnasts are judged on their artistry, execution of skills, and difficulty of skills, for which they gain points. They perform leaps, balances, and rotations along with handling the apparatus.
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of elite international competition. Within individual countries, gymnastics is regulated by national federations like British Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics is a popular spectator sport at many competitions, including the Summer Olympic Games.
Marian Drăgulescu is a Romanian artistic gymnast. During his senior gymnastics career he has won an impressive 31 medals at Olympic games at World and European Championships, of which eight are gold medals at the World Championships and ten are gold medals at European Championships. He excels in vault and floor, on which he is a multiple world champion and Olympic medalist. His name will remain in gymnastics history not only because of his world titles on floor and vault, but also because of the extremely difficult vault named after him: a handspring double front somersault with ½ turn or the Drăgulescu. He is also an excellent all-around gymnast, an event in which he was a European champion (2004) and bronze medalist (2000) and in which he placed 8th at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Andreea Mădălina Răducan is a retired gymnast from Bârlad, Romania. She currently works as a sports announcer and journalist.
Lavinia Corina Miloșovici is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit, Miloșovici, also known as "Milo" in the gymnastics community, is considered to be one of Romania's top gymnasts ever and one of the most prolific female all-around medalists ever, earning a total 19 World Championships or Olympic medals in a span of six years. She medalled in every single World Championships meet, Olympic Games and European Championships between 1991 and 1996, and is only the third female gymnast ever, after Larisa Latynina and Věra Čáslavská, to win at least one World Championships or Olympic title on all four events. Miloșovici was also the last gymnast along with Lu Li to ever receive the perfect mark of 10.0 in an Olympic competition and the last to receive the benchmark score of 9.95 at the World Championships. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2011. Her trademarks included her four-event mastery, consistency, longevity, versatile skill set, and her leadership abilities.
Gina Elena Gogean is a retired artistic gymnast from Romania who competed internationally in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. During her career she won an impressive number of 30 medals at Olympic Games, world championships or continental championships. Her best events were the floor exercise, the vault and the balance beam. She was also an excellent all around gymnast winning several medals on this event, the European title in 1994, a silver Olympic medal (1996) and a silver medal at the 1993 World Championships. She helped the Romanian team win three consecutive world titles and two Olympic team medals, a silver and a bronze. Gogean was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2013. Criticized for her lack of artistry and expression, Gogean nonetheless had nearly unmatched consistency, longevity and efficiency that made her a backbone of the Romanian team in the 1990s.
Ecaterina Szabo is a former Romanian artistic gymnast who won 20 Olympic, world and continental medals.
Claudia Maria Presăcan is a world-class Romanian artistic gymnast who competed at the senior international level between 1994 and 2000. She was a three-time team gold medalist at the World Championships with the Romanian team and was also a member of the gold medal-winning Romanian squad at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Sport in Romania are an important part of the country's culture. Romania has risen to prominence in a number of sporting areas in recent decades. Association football is the most popular sport in Romania, a nation of 20 million. The most successful club is Steaua Bucharest, who were the first Eastern European side to win the European Cup and the European Supercup in 1986. Romania is one of only four national teams from Europe that took part in the first World Cup in 1930. The Romania national football team has taken part in seven FIFA World Cups and had its most successful run during the 1990s, when they reached the quarterfinals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, losing to Sweden in the penalty shootout. Romania was ranked third by FIFA in 1997.
Gertrúd Emilia Eberle is a retired Romanian gymnast of German-Hungarian descent.
The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for artistic gymnastics governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). The first edition of the championships was held in 1903, exclusively for male gymnasts. Since the tenth edition of the tournament, in 1934, women's events are held together with men's events.
Elena Leușteanu-Popescu was a Romanian artistic gymnast who competed at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics. During her career she won three Olympic bronze medals, one world bronze medal and five continental silver medals. She was the first Romanian artistic gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships are the European championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. They were first held in 1978. The European Championships and the European Junior Championships were united in 1993. Prior to 2006, they were called the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships. The competition is organised by the European Union of Gymnastics.
Larisa Andreea Iordache is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She is the current leader of the Romanian women's artistic gymnastics team, and represented Romania at the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games.
Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held in three categories: artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampolining. All gymnastics events were staged at the Arena Olímpica do Rio from 6 to 21 August 2016.
The 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Nanning, China at the Guangxi Gymnasium from 3–12 October 2014. The competition was the fourth time a World Artistic Gymnastics Championships has been held in the continent of Asia.
The 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was the forty-sixth edition of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The competition was held from 23 October – 1 November 2015 at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and is the first time that Scotland hosted the event. The competition served as a qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics Junior European Championships are the European championships for junior gymnasts for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. They were first held in 1987. Prior to 1993, they were held as a separate event. Since the 1993 edition in Bucharest, Romania, the Junior European Championships were integrated to the senior European Championships. The competition is organized by the European Union of Gymnastics.
The 33rd European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held from 17 to 20 December 2020 in Mersin, Turkey. The competition was originally scheduled to be held from 30 April to 3 May 2020 in Paris, France, but it was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Baku, Azerbaijan was announced as the replacement host for 17 to 20 December, before the event was relocated to Mersin. Originally an Olympic qualifying event, the competition was undesignated as such in light of the ongoing pandemic, so as to avoid pressuring member federations to attend if they were not willing to do so.
The 34rd European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held from 9 to 13 December 2020 at the Mersin Gymnastics Hall in Mersin, Turkey. The competition was originally scheduled to be held from 27 to 31 May 2020 in Baku, Azerbaijan, but it was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Baku event was rescheduled for 9 to 13 December, before the event was relocated to Mersin. Originally an Olympic qualifying event, the competition was undesignated as such in light of the ongoing pandemic, so as to avoid pressuring member federations to attend if they were not willing to do so.
Mirjana Bilić (YUG)
Solveig Egman (SWE)
Thea Belmer (NED)
