Monica Roşu

Monica Roşu
Country represented	Romania
Born	May 11, 1987 (1987-05-11) (age 24) Bacău, Romania
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior international elite
Head coach(es)	Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang
Retired	2005
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens Team Gold 2004 Athens Vault World Championships Silver 2003 Anaheim Team European Championships Gold 2004 Amsterdam Team Gold 2004 Amsterdam Vault Junior European Championships Bronze 2002 Patras Vault Bronze 2002 Patras Floor

Monica Roşu (born May 11, 1987 in Bacău) is an artistic gymnast from Romania.^[1] During her career she won two Olympic gold medals (team and vault), a silver medal with the team at world championships and two gold continental medals (team and vault).

Early life and career

Monica started gymnastics in 1991 at age four and trained during her early years at CSS Bacău.Powerful and hardworking, Roşu was selected to train for the junior national team and left her family for Oneşti, then the site of the junior training center. The world got its first glimpse of young Roşu at the Top Gym Tournament in early 2000.^[2] When two juniors from Deva pulled out unexpectedly just days before the meet began, Roşu was selected as a last-minute replacement. Held annually in Charleroi, Belgium, the Top Gym Tournament is one of the most prestigious international junior competitions. Competing with an ankle injury and first-meet jitters, Monica's performance left much to be desired. After multiple falls, she finished 12th all-around^[2] and few fans ever expected to see her again. Determined to improve, Roşu competed internationally in the Netherlands and Slovakia in 2001. Always a powerful tumbler, she made great strides in vaulting and floor exercise and soon moved with her teammates to the national training center in Deva. Still a junior in 2002, she competed at the Romanian International, placing fourth. She went on to be a part of the junior squad at the European Championships, where she earned bronze medals on vault and floor exercise.^[3] Her second and last participation at the prestigious Top Gym Turnament turned out a success; she won the trophy ahead of teammate Alexandra Eremia^[2]

Senior career

Over the next two years, Roşu competed national and internationally, gaining a great deal of experience. She competed at her first world championships in the U.S. in 2003, winning silver with her team and placing fourth on the vault.^[4] She then won gold on vault and with the team at the European Championships the following spring.^[5] Roşu's finest hour came during the 2004 Olympics in Athens. With Cătălina Ponor, Daniela Sofronie, Oana Ban, Alexandra Eremia and Silvia Stroescu she was a part of the Romanian team who successfully defended their Olympic team title. In a dominant performance they won by nearly a full point and finished top on three of the four apparatus. The strongest vaulter on the team, she contributed scores in the finals of 9.625 on vault and 9.387 on bars. Roşu also won gold on the vault, competing the two most difficult vaults of the Olympic Games and indeed the most difficult ever performed by a woman in an Olympic competition so far. She was nearly two tenths ahead of her nearest rival.

Retirement

After injuring herself in 2005, and showing sub-par performances, Roşu failed to make the 2005 World Championship team and has since retired. In 2005 she participated at the televised competition Kunoichi and in the TV show Monster Box in Japan.^[6] In 2009 she was the host of a TV show ("Forma Maxima") aimed at promoting a healthy life style, broadcasted by the Romanian TVR1 channel. Among her guest were Ion Ţiriac, Ilie Năstase and Gheorghe Hagi.^[7] As of 2010, Roşu was studying for her masters of sport management in Bucharest, Romania.

Achievements

• 2000 Top Gym Tournament: 6th Team, 12th A-A, 6th BB 12th FX, 6 V
• 2001 Tournament of Arques: 3rd A-A
• 2001 Slovakian International: 4th A-A, 6th BB, 7th UB, 7th FX
• 2001 Hypotheek Tournament: 2nd A-AShe won two gold medals for her country in the 2004 Athens Olympics with the Romanian women taking out the Team competition (from the US) and Roşu herself winning the vault with a score of 9.656. She won a silver medal on vault at the 2004 World Cup Final. She injured herself in 2005 and has not competed since 2004.

References

1. ^ Sports Reference Monica Roşu
2. ^ ^{a b c} Gymnos Top Gym International Palmares Complet 2000-2010
3. ^ Gymn Forum Results 2002 European Junior Artistic Gymnastics Championships
4. ^ Gymn Forum Results World Championships
5. ^ European Union of Artistic Gymnastics 25^th European Championships 2004 - Amsterdam
6. ^ The Awakening (Romanian Newspaper) Monica Roşu took part at two successful shows of Japanese TV channel TBS
7. ^ Puţin din fiecare Forma Maxima TV Show

External links

• Photos of Monica Roşu at Gymbox.net
• Monica Roşu at Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
• Monica Rosu Fan Forum (Unofficial)

Gymnastics portal

Persondata
Name	Rosu, Monica
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 11, 1987
Place of birth	Bacău, Romania
Date of death
Place of death