Cristina Bontaș

Cristina Bontaş (later Tăntaru, born December 5, 1973) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1987 and 1993. Her best events were the floor exercise, the vault, and the all around. She is a world champion on floor, a double olympic medalist and a six-time world medalist. Bontaş scored a perfect ten on floor in the all around event of the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Early life She started training at the age of seven at the CSM Oneşti club under coaches Dorin and Mihai Săndulescu.

Senior career 1989–1990 Bontaş' debut as a senior in an international event was at the 1989 Romanian Internationals, where she medaled silver for all-around, uneven bars, and floor and bronze for vault. 1989 was the start of a series of medals for floor and vault in international events. Bontaş was the surprise top Romanian gymnast at the 1989 World Championships, finishing in fourth place in the all-around event ahead of the great Daniela Silivaş and just behind the trio of Soviet medalists (Boginskaya, Laschenova and Strazheva). In the all-around event, she scored a perfect 10 for the floor exercise. Bontaş also contributed to the team's silver medal by achieving the third highest average score on her team.

In 1990 she won a silver medal on vault at the European Championships in Athens, Greece and placed seventh in the floor and uneven bars events.

1991 At the 1991 World Championships in Indianapolis, United States Bontaş tied for gold for floor with Oksana Chusovitina. Her performance on the floor exercise based on a musical background of well-known American songs (e.g., "The Star-Spangled Banner" (USA anthem), "Oh Susanna", "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again", "Yankee Doodle" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas") energized the crowds. She also won the bronze medal on the all-around event, contributed heavily to the team bronze with the highest average score on her team and placed fourth on vault, seventh on uneven bars and eight on balance beam.

1992 Olympic Games Together with Lavinia Miloşovici, Gina Gogean, Mirela Paşca, Vanda Hădărean, and Maria Neculiţă, Bontaş was a team member of the Romanian team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. In the team finals, she had once again the highest contributing score of all her colleagues, highlighted by an average of 9.95 on the floor exercise. She qualified first in the floor finals, third all around, and fifth in the balance beam finals. She won silver with the team, tied for the bronze medal on floor exercise with Tatiana Gutsu and Shannon Miller, and placed fourth in the all-around and beam finals.

Post-retirement Bontaş retired after the 1992 Olympic Games. She first coached in Romania and did some TV commentary for gymnastics events. Later, she coached in Italy and in Wales. When the contract in Wales was up, Bontaş immigrated to Canada to coach at Hamilton's Mountain Star Gymnastics. She went back to Romania in 1998 to marry, returning to Canada without her husband, Gabi Tăntaru, while they waited for immigration papers. After several months, her husband was able to join her in Canada; he was also coaching at Hamilton Mountain Gym Elites (formerly Mountain Star Gymnastics). The couple has a daughter named Elissa, also a gymnast, born in April 1999, and a son Eric, born in April 2002. Here, Bontaş was training her pupils for the 2012 Olympic Games. Bontaş also recently started an aerobic gymnastics program at her gym which has produced many national team members.

Competitive history YearEventTeamAAVTUBBBFX Junior 1986 Cottbus International Senior 1987 Blume Memorial 5 International Junior Championships Junior Friendship Tournament Kosice International 4 5 1988 Balkan Championships Catania Cup Champions All Junior European Championships 5 7 Junior Friendship Tournament 4 8 1989 Chunichi Cup CSSR-ROM Dual Meet European Championships 9 French International 54 4 International Championships of Romania ROM-CSSR Dual Meet Rome Grand Prix Tokyo Cup 7 World Championships 4 1990 Blume Memorial 11 DTB Cup 4 European Championships 7 7 7 French International 19 GBR-ROM Dual Meet HUN-ROM Dual Meet International Championships of Romania Romanian Championships ROM-TCH Dual Meet World Cup Final 6 7 7 7 1991 BEL-FRA-ROM-URS Meet Chunichi Cup DTB Cup 4 Dutch Open 4 Romanian Championships ROM-GER Dual Meet ROM-ITA Dual Meet Tokyo Cup USA-ROM Dual Meet 7 World Championships 4 7 8 1992 Chunichi Cup 6 FRA-ROM Dual Meet HUN-ROM Dual Meet Romanian Championships 4 4 ROM-GER Dual Meet Tokyo Cup Olympic Games 4 4