A gymnast since she was 4 years old, Catalina Ponor says she knew she had the ability to be great when she won the balance beam at a local event at the age of 9. She is from Constanta, Romania, bordering the Black Sea. Constanta is also the hometown of team mate Daniela Sofronie. Beautiful, Graceful, and Talented are words that come out when thinking of Catalina Ponor. Her specialties are the Beam and Floor, but in order to be a complete gymnast, she must improve on her Uneven Bars and then, maybe she would be a contender for the all around in all gymnastics events, including the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. If she hadn't been stubborn and dragged her mother to enroll her in gymnastics, maybe no one, not even Catalina, would have known that she had potential to be as great as she is now.

Career Highlights:

Olympic Games
1st Beam 2004 Athens, GR
1st Floor Exercise 2004 Athens, GR
1st Team 2004 Athens, GR

World Championships
2nd Beam 2003 Anaheim, CA, USA
2nd Floor Exercise 2003 Anaheim, CA, USA
2nd Team 2003 Anaheim, CA, USA

World Cup
1st Beam 2004 Amsterdam, NED
1st Floor Exercise 2004 Amsterdam, NED
1st Beam 2004 Cottbus, GER
1st Beam 2003 Stuttgart, GER
2nd Beam 2004 Lyon, FRA
2nd Floor Exercise 2004 Cottbus, GER
2nd Floor Exercise 2004 Lyon, FRA
2nd Beam 2003 Anaheim, CA, USA (WCh)
2nd Floor Exercise 2003 Anaheim, CA, USA (WCh)
3rd Floor Exercise 2003 Stuttgart, GER