Tina Erceg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tina Erceg born May 3, 1988 in Split, Croatia (then the SFRY) is a Croatian elite gymnast. She now lives in the town of Kaštela with her parents Slobodan and Anda and is trained by her coaches Magda Miloševic-Ilic, Miro Koncarevic, Željana Becic and Ivo Borozan. Beginning gymnastics in 1995, Tina has quickly become the nation's most successful gymnast, having won the national title several times and having international success.
Tina qualified to the European All Around Final in 2005 and has competed at World Championship level. In addition to this, she has also won a World Cup medal and created an original element, an arabian mount on beam, which is now named after Erceg. At the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Tina placed high enough in the first round of competition to qualify for the 2008 Olympics as an individual, becoming the first female Croatian gymnast to do so. At the same Championships, male gymnast Filip Ude qualified for the men's competition in Beijing.
An interview published in the April 2008 issue of International Gymnast magazine reported that Tina is a first year University student majoring in Kinesiology. This article also reported on the remarkability of Tina's success given her training conditions. Her gym in Split is not large enough for a full sized floor mat or for vault training. Nonetheless, Tina states that she hopes the success achieved by both her and Ude inspire Croatian children to become involved in Gymnastics.
