Olympic Champions - Athens 2004 Beam - Catalina Ponor

[AliyaMustafinaFan]

Gosh, she's so incredible on here!

[smeetfan1234]

She was amazing for this time period, which is why she got the 9.787 because of different judgin rules. She has so many skills, but i kinda get a feeling she is being rushed to shove everything in. She probably couldve dropped an easy skill or two and still have a 10.00 start value. She isnt hesitate, but i thought she was extremely rushing herself

[laurenbp1]

I think That Score could of been a bit higher

[xrictinagymnastics]

There are lots of great beam workers but Catalina is much more than that. Most gymnasts, even some of the best of the world seem to be nervous or even scared when they get on that beam. She doesn't, she owns the beam, she doesn't wobble, she doesn't hesitate, it really looks like she was born to do this, that the beam is where she belongs. And that's somenthing that no coach can't teach, it comes naturally.

[alixbieber123]

i thoaght shawn jonston was gd

[VideoCentral100]

She's the best at beam, Khorkina is the best at bars.

[Bittenax]

Love her!! So glad she came back!! =)

[PhenixJoe]

She is undoubtedly one of the world's best beamers. Front acrobatic skills must be her weakness though; she never does them.

[QueenieQue]

@PhenixJoe She does a front aerial.

[happyari13]

@AngelicPhantom Before 2006, they had different judging rules, that's why she got a 9.787

[happyari13]

wow! she must have really good ability and coaches!

[AngelicPhantom]

What the hell? 9.787? That's just sad.

One of the most solid and amazing routines I've seen for a long while. She was so steady. Steady and beautiful to watch.

[TheRomanitza]

i'm addicted to this video!!!

[AndeeDeeKate]

Today she won gold at the Nationals <3 At the BB. And silver on floor [despite the fact she had better technique]

[PoorPublicSchoolKid]

I really hope to see her in London... IMO, she is the best combination of power and elegance ever to come out of Romania.

[sbar17]

i loooove this routine sooo much.... not a single bobble from this queen <3<3

[gemmalover]

This routine deserved gold, but her floor...not so much...

[zouzounakiiilol]

waw .. she is the best ..

[TheRomanitza]

catalina wil be the queen of beam in 2012 at london!

[abrahamnextel]

@TheRomanitza is she still competing??? I thought she was retired....

[TheRomanitza]

@abrahamnextel yes she come back and she wants  to partecipate at london olympic games . 201..:)so happy for her.

if u wanna see the video where she speack about her comeback in gymnastic digit:

,,Catalina Ponor comeback to gymnastic ,,

[beautifulsarah100]

Catalina is one of the closest to Nadia in her ability to exhibit virtually no beam-awareness. Nadia walked the beam like it was flat ground - it was almost eerie to watch sometimes. Catalina is a lot like Nadia in this way.

[TsubasaDreams]

I'm so glad she's making a comeback! We might see some actual routines as opposed to the rat race that is beam. It seems like beam has become packing as many skills as possible in 90 seconds.

[tiashe1]

i like the routine overall but quick question - what was the dismount? i dunno if it looks funny bc of the angle but it's like she was doing a full twisting double tuck but missed her legs for the tuck or opened up or something. anyone else see that?

[triplefull368]

@tiashe1 You're not imagining things. Ponor is somewhat notorious for "pucking" her skills-meaning that, as a general rule, it's hard to tell whether her skills are tucked or piked. I'm not sure anyone knows which she was intending for this dismount, but for the sake of less deductions, let's go with tucked. ;)

[AndeeDeeKate]

Best beam routine ever! So glad that she won gold! <3

[FallenRose101]

Probably the best beam routine I've ever seen. I'm always amazed by her confidence in this routine. It's truly perfect.

[MsMusiclover008]

Catalina Ponor is amazing!!! She would kill shawn johnson on beam if they both competed in 2004. Im glad she kicked carly patterson's butt. Catalina is a true Olympian.

[ShawnVikaKomova2012]

It's a shame Patterson even got close to this score...

[NYCBlonde]

@ShawnVikaKomova2012 Why is it a shame? They're both great gymnasts. You can praise Ponar without tearing someone else down.

[ShawnVikaKomova2012]

@NYCBlonde I like Ponor's style much better even though I can't say that Carly wasn't talented. Fine, I will praise Ponor without tearing Carly down... It's a shame Catalina only got a few tenths higher than Carly. Her comeback will be epic.

[NYCBlonde]

@ShawnVikaKomova2012 They're both gorgeous gymnasts and I would be thrilled for Ponar to come back! She is certainly an amazing beam worker.

[ShawnVikaKomova2012]

@NYCBlonde I think her comeback will be good. She used to have the DTY and has a terrific floor routine.

[LaVoix555]

~A~M~A~Z~I~N~G~

[djprojectus]

know what's funny? almost all negative comments, ironic, always looking for even where errors are not and say they do not deserve to win and always compare with their own gymnasts but so that they are the best even if the Judges have considered as different and whine that their gymnasts were robbed and that they were heavier elements and their gymnasts performed better. I think you already guessed: not Russians, not Chinese, not someone else, than Americans. why is that?

[LaVoix555]

@djprojectus Ignore them, they are all just idiots!

[djprojectus]

@LaVoix555 i know you r right,but is so hard because they r everywere.

[LaVoix555]

@djprojectus They don't know a good gymnast when it slaps them in the face...they are epic failures...best to just leave them cry about it

[Sweetcleopatraa]

well deserved gold

[heyheyhey857]

that was a fantastic dismount!

[PonorFan]

De verdad que se te extraña catalina :( eras simplemente espectacular !!

[EdGringo78]

I'm in love with this routine!! She totally dominated balance beam at these Olympics, without so much as even a slight balance check. Absolutely incredible.

[LooovexGym]

Woah ! : D

[justin1gibson]

i dont know what beam routine you where watching to say she should have gotten a 10.0, but i think the score she recieved was very generous. she had a few balance checks in there but over all the routine was very good.

[LMA629]

@justin1gibson i know and her head was really close to the floor when she landed her dismount. it was still a beautiful routine though!

[schill2002]

Gotta love a routine with ZERO deductions whilest on the beam and only slight deductions on one of the highest rated dismounts. *Looooove* <3

[cristinaronson]

beautiful

[zeitistda]

I keep coming back to this video: I think Catalina Ponor is the best beam worker. Her technique is consistent, solid, and superb. I love her grace and strength and her ability to do the technically demanding things she does so well. Brava Catalina, and thank you!

[Alexbocicor]

Romanians are the best at this!

[kikirobi]

@Alexbocicor Esti roman a?

[HappyOannyBunny]

@kikirobi

logic ca-i roman, nu vezi ce patriot e? :))

[AndeeDeeKate]

Great routine! <3

Well deserved GOLD! She was the best on beam.

[utoob9999]

It was a WELL deserved WIN in those olympics. No one came even close. this gymnast works with amazing confidence and precision - absolutely no balance checks. Not QUITE as fluid as Nadia but given the skill level I'd say it was justified.

[luv4cookie1]

great routine. well deserved gold. but not a favorite. i really couldnt tell if that was piked or tucked, it started out tucked then piked and she landed low. still nice routine. if i had to pick the best gymnast it would be Shannon miller's beam routines.

[andro669]

I agree with you, Shannon's routines had elegance and grace that none others could match.

[luv4cookie1]

@andro669 obviousley i agree with you completley, shannon''s routines on all four apperatus were always a favorite of mine (:

[comanecisalto1]

Johnson, Liukin and the chinese were sooo lucky Catalina wasn't there, and that Octavian Belu retired :(

[aleksrnv]

That's a piked full in

[mkkolasa97]

is her dismount a full in pike or tuck?

[LoveGym95]

10... perfect

[mkkolasa97]

is her dismount a full in pike out tuck?

[Zamolodchikovafan16]

So amazing! Perfection :-)

She could rival todays top gymnasts! So beautuful!

[trinidadzeeee]

Its a shame Ponor didn't continue till 2008 Olympics!! She would've given Johnson, Liukin and the chinese a run for their money!!!!!!!!!

[melininha18]

nota 10 para grande catalina.

[Sublue]

Fucking amazing! Too bad that couldn't be awarded a 10, it was flawless.

[sinjinthule]

Ponor was so good on beam & floor.

[SilverDragon24]

this would be like a 16,00+ !!

[davop888]

One of the best beam workers ever!

[rebchin123]

woah haha one handed back hand spring! is there a name for that?

[hitsugaya1001]

no actually xD its a B element skill in the current code of points and is just described as: Flip Flop with one hand support.

nothing can have a name unless its a C+ element.

[jamesbug2002]

the first time i saw it, it was done by Yang Bo in 1992 Barcelona..but I'm sure it wasn't her who first did it..and if it was her, again, it wouldn't be named because it's a B element..

[garyj79]

@jamesbug2002 - It was the Soviet gymnast Elena Naimushina (late 70's) who first performed one handed back-springs on beam, one with the left arm, changing to the right for the next one !

[cherylannemason]

The last of the great Romanian beam specialists? Closest I saw to this level in '08 was from Johnson and Liukin. She deserves a place with Comaneci and Szabo, for sure.

[auswriteratheart]

Gabriela Dragoi. When she hits (i.e. beam finals 2008). And Ana Porgras' routine is definitely one of the more artistic ones I've seen in ages.

One of my favorite routines to watch. They just don't make 'em this perfect anymore, do they?

[mmoran3]

and definatley Silivas

[joaopedro990]

shes more perfect than everyone in the gymn.. only she know how make a routine without a wrong.. she gratefull outta from gymn, cause in 2007 she wasnt good like 3 years before, you u search on utube catalina ponor 2007 ull see one routine in romania, and ull see that she made the same routine than this one but with some wrongs.

[shawnandnastiafan]

anna pavlova is better

[twirlerbabe2448]

This is better than Shawn Johnson's routine. Love that opening set.

[theintranet]

was her dismount a full twisting double back like Shannon Miller, but she kept her in a pipe position?

[mmoran3]

actually they were the same dismount yes and the funny thing is ,,, if you go and look at "Shannon Miller 1996 olympic gold balance beam",,, in atlanta her dismount is so much like Ponars in terms of execution,, go back and look at shannons and then ponars  its cool

[1Timoteo41]

the difference in between shannon miller dismount on beam and ponor is that catalina does it in a pike position. that is actually more difficult, that is why she landed a little low, but shannon used to land low too

[humbersidehusky]

I don't know. She probably got deductions for the low chest on landing. But where they got 0.213 off is beyond me.

[caramelcreamsauce]

A 9.925 would have been perfect.

[kewlioto]

that landing should have been a much larger deduction, considering that her face was in her knees

i also would have taken off for lack of extension in her switch leap

[caramelcreamsauce]

okay...then:

0.1-landing

0.05-SS leap

9.850

and carly?

0.1-hop

0.05-pirouette

0.05-a little too much tuck for my liking on the dismt

9.800

Puts cata in first still doesn't it?

[kewlioto]

that landing is much closer to a .2 to 2.5 deduction. i probably would've given her routine a 9.750

but anyways i wish anna pavlova would've hit and won, not carly :P

[caramelcreamsauce]

really? fairly close then. Pavlova deserved to medal even with her error. Since when was eremia in the mix? I never liked her BB except for the side somi which is the only tolerable one.

[kewlioto]

agreed

[caramelcreamsauce]

:) Thanks

[willsbob123]

Me too. Because, if you pause her when she lands her hands are almost on her floor!

[siljed30492]

I agree with you!!!!

[aleksdeabreu]

Best Beam routine at those olympics. Had she done that in earlier olympics, where the judging wasn't so harsh, it would have defnitely scored her a 10

[moopoo66]

@aleksdeabreu it would be impossible to get a 10 in the 90's there was only about 10 in a 10 year period which is ridiculos

[sophgoulart]

@aleksdeabreu I agree with you :) this routine is ''fucking'' amazing! Did she quit of gymnastics? =(