Height 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) Weight 48 kg | Name Maria Olaru | |
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Born June 4, 1982 (age 41) Falticeni , Romania ( 1982-06-04 ) Discipline Women's artistic gymnastics Olympic medals Gymnastics at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's artistic individual all-around Similar People Simona Amanar, Andreea Raducan, Loredana Boboc, Andreea Isarescu, Elena Zamolodchikova | ||
Maria olaru rom vault 2000 sydney olympics team final
Maria Olaru (born June 4, 1982) is a Romanian former Olympic artistic gymnast. She is an Olympic, World, and European gold medalist with the team. Individually, she was the 1999 all-around world champion and the 2000 Olympic all-around silver medalist. Her best event was the vault on which she medaled at world and continental competitions. Olaru was one of the tallest gymnasts competing in the late 1990s, standing 160 cm (5 ft 3 in). After retirement she became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the West University of Timișoara.
Contents
- Maria olaru rom vault 2000 sydney olympics team final
- Maria olaru balance beam 1998 international team gymnastics championtships women
- Early life and career
- Senior career
- Post retirement
- Skills
- References
Maria olaru balance beam 1998 international team gymnastics championtships women
Early life and career
Born in Fălticeni, Olaru began gymnastics at the age of six there, but quickly transferred to the local gymnastics club in Deva. She moved up to the junior national team in 1993, but after six months, she returned to her home club. In 1995 she rejoined the junior team in Bucharest. Olaru graduated to the Deva national training facility in 1996, after winning gold on vault at the Junior European Championships. In the same year she also won the Top Gym Trophy in Charleroi, Belgium.
Senior career
In 1998 Olaru moved up to senior competition, taking first place with the Romanian team and second on vault at the European Championships. The following year, she contributed to the team gold medal at the 1999 World Championships in Tianjin, China and became the second Romanian gymnast in history, after Aurelia Dobre, to win the all-around title. In 2000, she was, with Simona Amânar, Loredana Boboc, Andreea Isărescu, Claudia Presăcan and Andreea Răducan, a member of the Romanian team at the 2000 Olympics. There she shared in the team gold medal and won a silver in the all-around (after the Răducan controversy). She also qualified for the balance beam event final and placed sixth.
Post retirement
Olaru retired after the 2000 Olympics, noting that the new Code of Points would not be suited to gymnasts of her height, and enrolled as a student at the West University of Timișoara. After graduation she continued her studies, and she became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the West University of Timișoara.
In 2016, Olaru published her autobiography, The Price of Gold. Uncomfortable Sincerity. In it, she recounted how she and her Romanian teammates were hit and beaten by their coaches during training.