Gina Gogean

Gina Elena Gogean (born 9 September 1977) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast who competed internationally in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. During her career she won an impressive number of 30 medals at Olympic Games, world championships or continental championships. Her best events were the floor exercise (three-time world champion), the vault (two-time world champion) and the balance beam (1997 world champion). She was also an excellent all around gymnast winning several medals on this event, the European title in 1994, a silver Olympic medal and a silver medal at the 1993 World Championships. She helped the Romanian team win three consecutive world titles (1994, 1995 and 1997) and two Olympic team medals, a silver and a bronze (1992 and 1996). Gogean was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2013. Gogean initially trained at CSS Focșani, near her home village, under the tutelage of Sergiu and Tatiana Popa. She made her international debut at the Japan Junior International meet in 1989, where she placed fourth in the all-around and took the gold medal on floor exercise.

In a sport where athletes are constantly fighting the battle of time as well as their maturing bodies, Gina continued to be one of the top gymnasts in the world each year after the Olympics. She was criticized for her lack of artistry in her gymnastics (particularly her post-1992 routines), and her stoic demeanor. Nevertheless, each year her gymnastics continually showed improvement from the year prior and her results reflected that. She finished a close second in the all-around behind rival Shannon Miller at the 1993 World Championships, losing by only 0.007. She also took the silver on floor exercise and bronze on beam.

Though she did not medal in the all-around the following year (finishing 4th), she became the World Champion on vault - her first Worlds gold medal. She also won a bronze on floor. She also became the European All-Around champion that year, and played a critical role in helping the Romanian team win the 1994 Team World Championship—the country's first since 1987. Gina suffered a fall in the qualifying rounds of this competition while attempting a back handspring-layout-back handspring combination on beam. Her foot slipped off the side and the back of her head slammed into the beam before she crashed to the floor. Miraculously, she suffered no injury, and only took an extra moment to collect herself before jumping back up on the beam.

Though Gina struggled in major all-around competition through 1995 and 1996, her gymnastics continued to improve and she won more individual event World titles. At the 1995 World Championships, she helped the Romanians win their second team title, and went on to win the bronze on vault and the gold on floor. She added two more golds to her haul at the 1996 World Championships on vault and floor. At the European Championships a few weeks later, she won the team gold as well as silver on vault and beam. She was unable to defend the all around title after suffering a fall on uneven bars in the team final.

Going into the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Romanians were the favorites to win team gold. However, the Romanian team had several injuries and was under staffed during the team portion and had a very lackluster performance in both compulsories and optionals. The end result was a disappointing third. Gina, however, had a strong performance during the all-around and won the silver medal behind Lilia Podkopayeva of Ukraine. She also won two more bronze medals on the vault and beam.

Her performances in the 1996 Olympics were particularly impressive, as Gina underwent an emergency appendectomy only 5 weeks before the competition. At the time, she had been traveling on a train to Bucharest, which was the only city where hospitals could perform the kind of non-invasive surgery that Gina needed to return to training quickly. Traditional surgery would have involved at least a six-week wait to resume light training and she would have missed the Olympics. although she is not credited in the Code of Points list of elements performed for the first time by gymnasts at FIG official competitions. ApparatusNameDescriptionDifficultyFloor exercise Gogean Tour jeté with additional 1/1 turn (360°), landing on one or both feet D

Retirement Gogean retired after the 1998 World Cup, where she medalled in her all three events. After completing her studies she coached in Romania and later in Scotland, and also worked as a television commentator.

On 1 July 2006, she married Cristian Gorza, a former classmate of hers, in a ceremony in Deva, Romania. Her former coaches, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang, served as the godparents. Teammates Andreea Răducan and Maria Olaru were among the guests.