Claudia Maria Presăcan (born 28 December 1979 in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

who competed at the senior international level between 1994 and 2000. She was a three-time team gold medalist at the World Championships with the Romanian team and was also a member of the gold medal-winning Romanian squad at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Early career

Presăcan was born in

and began gymnastics when she was 4½ years old. She moved to the junior Romanian national training center in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1993 and began competing internationally the same year, placing third overall and winning two silver medals at the Top Gym junior tournament in

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In 1994 she participated in the Junior European Championships, where she won a gold medal on

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

.Bio and list of competition results
Gymn-Forum

Senior career

Presăcan moved into senior competition later in 1994, participating in the 1994 Team World Championships with the Romanian team and contributing to their gold medal performance. She was also a member of the first-place Romanian team the following year at the 1995 World Championships in

Sabae is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,338 in 24,167 households and the population density of 820 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Sabae is located in central Fuku ...

. However, she missed the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

due to a broken hand. Presăcan returned to competition in 1997, winning her third World Championships medal with the Romanian team at that year's World Championships in Lausanne. Injuries kept her from the 1999 team, but she recovered in time to earn a place on the Romanian squad at the 2000 Olympics. She contributed to the team's gold medal and qualified for the

balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

event final, where she placed fourth, just out of the medals. After the conclusion of the Games, it was revealed that Presăcan had competed with a severe case of

anemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...

. Despite having a

hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...

level of 6.3, she had been cleared to compete by team physician Ioachim Oana."Presecan eases into new sport"
'International Gymnast'' January 16, 2001

Post-retirement

After Presăcan retired from gymnastics in late 2000, she had a brief career in

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

, serving as a

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...

for the Romanian rowing team at the 2001 University Games. In 2002, Presăcan, along with former teammates

Corina Ungureanu Corina Georgiana Ungureanu (born 29 August 1980 in Ploieşti) is a world-class Romanian artistic gymnast who competed internationally between 1993 and 1999. She was a member of two gold medal-winning World Championships teams and was the 1998 Eu ...

and

Lavinia Miloșovici Lavinia Corina Miloșovici (born 21 October 1976) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast.Jane Perlez (13 July 1995"Romanian Coach Keeps Up the Fight" ''New York Times'' An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit ...

, sparked controversy by posing naked in photographs for a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

photobook A photo book or photobook is a book in which photographs make a significant contribution to the overall content. A photo book is related to and also often used as a coffee table book. Early Early photo books are characterized by their use of ...

, ''LCC Gold'' , and performing gymnastics routines

topless Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is barechestedness, also commonly called shirtlessness. Expose ...

for the Japanese

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s ''Gold Bird'' and ''Euro Angels''. A number of photographs from the photobook and DVDs were subsequently published in the Japanese magazine

Shukan Gendai A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are ofte ...

, and an edited version of the DVDs entitled ''3 Gold Girls'' was released in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 2004. Because the gymnasts had posed for some of the photographs and footage wearing their official Romanian team

leotards A leotard () is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso from the crotch to the shoulder. The garment was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870). There are sleeveless, short-sleeved, and lo ...

, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation banned them from coaching and judging in the country for five years, and the Japanese Junior Gymnastic Club Federation contemplated banning Romanian gymnasts from a major international junior competition."Five year suspension for retired Romanians"
''International Gymnast,'' December 18, 2002 Presăcan is currently working as a coach on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

.Ellen Vannin Gymnastics Club staff report

Major results

*1994 Junior Europeans: 7th AA, 4th V, 1st FX *1994 World Team Championships: 1st team *1995 World Championships: 1st team *1997 International Team Championships: 1st team *1997 Romanian National Championships: 1st AA, 1st UB, 3rd BB, 2nd FX *1997 World Championships: 1st team, 8th AA, 5th UB, 6th FX *1998 Women's Artistic Championships: 2nd team *1998 International Team Championships: 2nd team *1998 European Championships: 1st Team, 3rd AA, 3rd UB *1998 Romanian National Championships: 1st BB *1999 International Team Championships: 1st team *2000 Romanian National Championships: 5th AA, 2nd BB *2000 Olympic Games: 1st T, 4th BB Key: AA: all-around; BB: balance beam; FX: floor exercise; UB: uneven bars; VT: vault

References

External links

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Presacan, Claudia 1979 births Living people Romanian female artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for Romania Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Sportspeople from Sibiu Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics European champions in gymnastics