Cristina Elena Grigoraș

Cristina Elena Grigoraș (born 11 February 1966) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She is a two-time Olympic medalist with the team (gold in 1984 and silver in 1980). Individually, she won four medals (vault, all-around, uneven bars and floor) at the 1981 European Championships. She is best known for a skill on the balance beam named after her: forward salto tucked with ½ twist (180°) take off from both legs.

Gymnastics career Grigoraș trained at CSS Cetate Deva with Márta and Béla Károlyi until their defection to United States in 1981 and with coaches Adrian Goreac, Adrian Stan, Maria Cosma and Octavian Belu after 1981.

1980 and the Olympic Games Her senior debut in an international event was at the 1980 Italian-Romanian meet where she placed first with the team and second all-around. Her participation at the 1980 World Cup in Toronto brought her a bronze medal on vault. Together with Nadia Comăneci, Rodica Dunca, Emilia Eberle, Melita Ruhn and Dumitriţa Turner, Grigoraș was a member of the silver medal team at the 1980 Olympics. At these Olympic games she did not compete in any individual final event.

1981 At the 1981 European Championships in Madrid, Spain, Grigoraș medaled in all events except the balance beam. gold on vault, silver on uneven bars, bronze on floor and she placed eighth on beam. Her results in the all around and the events finals were the highest among her team members. and was a team member at the 1981 World Championships in Moscow. At these World Championships she placed fourth with the team and fifth in the all around and uneven bars events.

1982–1984 and the Olympic Games In 1982 Grigoraș did not compete at all. In 1984 she won several medals for all around at some minor international events. The other members of the team were Lavinia Agache, Laura Cutina, Simona Păucă, Mihaela Stănuleţ, and Ecaterina Szabo. She contributed to the team gold medal and she placed eighth in the preliminaries of the all around event. Apparatus Name Description DifficultyBalance beam Grigoraș Salto forward tucked with ½ turn (180°) take-off from both legs F (0.6)

Retirement Grigoraș' last event appears to be the 1985 Dutch Romanian meet.