Sandra Izbașa

Sandra Izbașa
— Gymnast —
Sandra Izbaşa in 2008 on beam
Personal information
Full name	Sandra Raluca Izbașa
Nickname(s)	Oscar
Country represented	Romania
Born	(1990-06-18) June 18, 1990 Bucharest, Romania
Height	167 centimetres (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	52 kilograms (115 lb)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Club	CSA Steaua București
Head coach(es)	Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang
Former coach(es)	Nicolae Forminte, Livia Ponoran
Choreographer	Puia Valer, Adriana Pop
Music	2008: Taniec Eleny 2010: Kalinka and Hava Nagila 2011: Tango Amore 2012: Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Medal record Competitor for  Romania Artistic Gymnastics Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Floor Exercise Gold 2012 London Vault Bronze 2008 Beijing Team Bronze 2012 London Team World Championships Silver 2006 Aarhus Balance Beam Bronze 2006 Aarhus All Around Bronze 2007 Stuttgart Team World Cup Final Bronze 2008 Madrid Floor Exercise World Cup Gold 2006 Glasgow Floor Exercise Gold 2007 Cottbus Floor Exercise Gold 2010 Ghent Floor Exercise Gold 2011 Paris Floor Exercise Bronze 2006 Glasgow Balance Beam Bronze 2007 Paris Floor Exercise Bronze 2007 Cottbus Balance Beam European Championships Gold 2006 Volos Floor Exercise Gold 2008 Clermont Team Gold 2008 Clermont Floor Exercise Gold 2011 Berlin Vault Gold 2011 Berlin Floor Exercise Gold 2012 Brussels Team Gold 2012 Brussels Vault Silver 2006 Volos Team Silver 2007 Amsterdam All Around Silver 2007 Amsterdam Balance Beam Silver 2008 Clermont Balance Beam Bronze 2006 Volos Balance Beam

Sandra Raluca Izbaşa (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈsandra izˈbaʃa]) (born June 18, 1990) is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She is a double Olympic champion, on floor at the 2008 Olympics and vault at the 2012 Olympics.^[1] She is also a winner of two Olympic bronze medals (as part of the Romanian team, in 2008 and 2012), and multiple World Championship and European Championship medals.

Senior career

2006

In April, Izbaşa competed at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Volos, Greece. She helped the Romanian team finish in second place. In event finals, she placed seventh on vault scoring 13.950, third on balance beam scoring 15.300, and first on floor scoring 15.550.^[2]

In October, Izbaşa competed at the 2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. She helped the Romanian team place fourth and individually she placed third in the all around with a score of 60.250. In event finals, she placed eighth on vault scoring 14.562, second on balance beam scoring 15.500, and sixth on floor scoring 15.375.^[3]

In November, Izbaşa competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Glasgow, United Kingdom. She placed third on balance beam with a score of 15.025 and first on floor with a score of 15.300.^[4]

2007

In March, Izbaşa competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Paris, France. She placed sixth on vault scoring 13.937, fifth on balance beam scoring 14.950, and third on floor scoring 14.950.^[5]

In April, Izbaşa competed at the 2007 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She placed second in the all around final with a score of 59.900. In event finals, she placed eighth on vault scoring 13.975 and second on balance beam scoring 15.525. She qualified to the floor finals but had to withdraw due to injury.^[6]

In September, Izbaşa competed at the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. She helped the Romanian team to place third and individually she placed ninth with a score of 59.225. In event finals, she placed eighth on floor scoring 14.525.^[7]

2008

In April, Izbaşa competed at the 2008 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Clermond-Ferrand, France. She contributed scores of 15.075 on vault, 15.350 on balance beam, and 15.750 on balance beam toward the Romanian team's first place finish. In event finals, she placed second on balance beam scoring 15.450 and first on floor scoring 15.775.^[8]

Later in April, Izbaşa competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Cottbus, Germany. She placed third on balance beam scoring 15.300 and first on floor scoring 15.300.^[9]

Beijing Olympics

In August, Izbaşa competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. She contributed scores of 15.100 on vault, 15.600 on balance beam, and 15.550 on floor towards the Romanian team's third place finish.^[10] Individually, she placed eighth in the all around final with a score of 60.750^[11] and she won the floor final with a score of 15.650.^[12]

In December, Izbaşa competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup final in Madrid, Spain. She placed fourth on balance beam scoring 14.925 and third on floor scoring 15.000.^[13]

2009

In March, Izbaşa competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy.^[14]

In April, Izbaşa competed at the 2009 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Milan, Italy. She placed seventh in the floor final with a score of 13.900.^[15]

Also in April, Izbaşa was on the cover of International Gymnast Magazine celebrating her Olympic achievements.^[16]

In the summer of 2009 she focused on the National exams which she successfully passed with an average of 9.71 (out of maximum 10). After the exams she enrolled herself as a student at the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.^[17]

In September, Izbaşa tore her right Achilles tendon while performing a piked full-in back-out on floor and also injured her hand during the fall. She said, "I didn't know what happened. I heard a pop and thought it was the floor." She was taken to the hospital and had surgery to repair the tendon.^[18]

2010

In September, Izbaşa returned to competition at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Ghent, Belgium. She won the floor final with a score of 14.325.^[19] Izbaşa said, "(I competed) with so many emotions. It was a competition in which I started over from the beginning, a new beginning I went a little bit to see where I am. First place is just a small step in the comeback stage."^[20]

Later in September, Izbaşa competed at the Romanian National Championships in Resita, Romania. She placed second on vault scoring 14.400, second on balance beam scoring 14.800, and first on floor scoring 15.150.^[21]

In October, Izbaşa competed at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She contributed scores of 14.700 on vault, 14.333 on balance beam, and 14.200 on floor towards the Romanian team's fourth place finish.^[22] In event finals, she placed seventh on floor with a score of 13.983.^[23] Before the competition she said, "I don't plan on winning any (individual) medals. For me the most important thing is to come back and help my team. The fact that I can lend a hand to help the girls in the team competition matters most. I watched several videos of the Russian and American women. The gymnasts are strong and the competition will be quite high."^[24]

2011

In March, Izbaşa competed at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Paris, France. She won the floor final with a score of 14.833.^[25]

In April, Izbaşa competed at the 2011 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Berlin, Germany. She placed first on vault with a score of 14.525 and first on floor with a score of 14.600.^[26]

In September, Izbaşa competed at an international meet against Germany and Switzerland in Erzingen, Germany. She helped Romania to win the team competition with scores of 14.150 on vault, 13.200 on uneven bars, and 14.150 on balance beam.^[27]

In October, Izbaşa was supposed to compete at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan but she injured her foot. Octavian Belu said, "We do not want to push her, she was in pain. She really wanted it, but could not. This is a big loss — her contribution to vault and floor was crucial for the team, but we must adapt. We would worsen her injury (by pushing her)."^[28]

2012

In April, Izbaşa competed at an international meet against France in Cholet, France. She helped Romania to win the team competition and individually she placed second in the all around with a score of 56.600.^[29]

In May, Izbaşa competed at the 2012 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Brussels, Belgium. She contributed a vault score of 15.200 towards the Romanian team's first place finish and individually she won the vault final with a score of 14.833.^[30] She said, "It is gold here, but is will be tougher in London."^[31]

At the beginning of July, Izbaşa competed at an international meet against France, Germany, and Italy in Bucharest, Romania. She helped Romania to win the team competition and individually she placed second in the all around with a score of 59.150^[32]

London Olympics

At the end of July, Izbaşa competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. She helped the Romanian team qualify in fourth place to the team final^[33] and individually she qualified to the all around final with a score of 57.532.^[34] She qualified second to the vault final with a score of 15.316 and second to the floor final with a score of 15.066.^[35] In the team final, she contributed scores of 15.100 on vault and 15.200 on floor toward the Romanian team's third place finish.^[36]

In the all around final, Izbaşa placed fifth with a score of 58.833.^[37] She won the vault final with a score of 15.191.^[38] Izbaşa said, "Honestly the vault final is a war of nerves and it showed. I can’t say I feel satisfied as I have the floor final to come. It means a lot but honestly I didn’t expect it, especially as I was competing last."^[39] She placed eighth in the floor final with a score of 13.333,^[40] having suffered a fall on her final tumbling pass.^[41] She was also chosen as Romania's flag bearer for the Games' Closing Ceremony.

2013

Izbașa had been preparing for the 2013 European Championships that would take place in Moscow in April, but reportedly decided not to compete due to lack of training.^[42] She took a short break from training to prepare for her Bachelor's degree.^[43]

In October, Izbașa competed at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.^[44] In qualifications, she placed second on floor exercise with a score of 14.733.^[45] She finished seventh in the finals with a score of 13.733.^[46]

Competitive history

Year	Event	AA	Team	VT	BB	UB	FX
2006	European Championships		2nd	7	3rd		1st
	World Championships	3rd	4	8	2nd		6
2007	European Championships	2nd		8	2nd
	World Championships	9	3rd				8
2008	European Championships		1st		2nd		1st
	Olympic Games	8	3rd				1st
2009	European Championships						7
2010	World Championships		4				7
2011	European Championships			1st			1st
2012	European Championships		1st	1st
	Olympic Games	5	3rd	1st			8
2013	World Championships						7

See also

• List of Olympic female gymnasts for Romania

References

External links

• Sandra Izbasa at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique

v t e Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Floor Exercise     1952  Ágnes Keleti (HUN) 1956  Ágnes Keleti (HUN) 1956  Larisa Latynina (URS) 1960  Larisa Latynina (URS) 1964  Larisa Latynina (URS) 1968  Věra Čáslavská (TCH) 1968  Larisa Petrik (URS) 1972  Olga Korbut (URS) 1976  Nellie Kim (URS) 1980  Nadia Comăneci (ROM) 1980  Nellie Kim (URS) 1984  Ecaterina Szabo (ROM) 1988  Daniela Silivaș (ROM) 1992  Lavinia Miloșovici (ROM) 1996  Lilia Podkopayeva (UKR) 2000  Elena Zamolodchikova (RUS) 2004  Cătălina Ponor (ROM) 2008  Sandra Izbașa (ROU) 2012  Aly Raisman (USA)

v t e Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Vault     1952  Ekaterina Kalinchuk (URS) 1956  Larisa Latynina (URS) 1960  Margarita Nikolaeva (URS) 1964  Věra Čáslavská (TCH) 1968  Věra Čáslavská (TCH) 1972  Karin Büttner-Janz (GDR) 1976  Nellie Kim (URS) 1980  Natalia Shaposhnikova (URS) 1984  Ecaterina Szabo (ROM) 1988  Svetlana Boginskaya (URS) 1992  Lavinia Miloșovici (ROM) 1992  Henrietta Ónodi (HUN) 1996  Simona Amânar (ROM) 2000  Elena Zamolodchikova (RUS) 2004  Monica Roșu (ROM) 2008  Hong Un-Jong (PRK) 2012  Sandra Izbașa (ROU)

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Persondata
Name	Izbasa, Sandra
Alternative names
Short description	Romanian gymnast
Date of birth	June 18, 1990
Place of birth	Bucharest, Romania
Date of death
Place of death