Henrietta Ónodi (born May 22, 1974) is a Hungarian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal in 1992. After retiring from gymnastics in 1997 she moved to the United States, married American Olympic pentathlete Jimbo Haley, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In 2010, she was inducted into the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IGHO ...

Career

Ónodi, also known as "Heni" in the gymnastics community, began gymnastics in 1978 and made her international debut in 1986. Too young to qualify for the 1988 Olympics, she made her senior debut in 1989 and represented Hungary at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

that year, where she placed 19th in the all-around and 5th in 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 finals. Over the next few years, Ónodi established herself as a medal contender at major events. In 1989 she became the first female Hungarian gymnast to medal at the European Championships with a gold on the

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

; at the 1990 Europeans she placed third in the all-around and the

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 ...

. In 1990, she also finished third in the all-around at the Goodwill Games and the World Cup where she won the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

event. At the 1991 World Championships Ónodi suffered a sudden back injury but was able to win a silver medal on vault and helped the Hungarian squad qualify for the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...

with an eighth-place finish in the team final. The next year at the Olympics in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Ónodi became the first female Hungarian gymnast in over 30 years to win an Olympic gold medal. She tied with

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

for the gold in the vault event final; on floor exercise, performing to " Hungarian Rhapsody" she finished second behind Miloşovici. Ónodi's difficulty level on vault was actually higher than Miloșovici's (they both used full twisting Yurchenkos but Henrietta did a piked barani and Milosovici a tucked). Ónodi also performed the difficult triple twist on floor, then an unusual move (nobody else in the Barcelona floor finals did it). Ónodi semi-retired after Barcelona Olympics to focus on her studies. She returned to international competitions in 1995 at the World University Games and subsequently led the Hungarian team at 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, ...

. She retired again in 1997 after attending her second University Games.Henrietta Ónodi
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Skills and style

Ónodi made many contributions to gymnastics during her competitive career. She was lauded for her unique style and power on vaulting and floor. Her uneven bars routine consisted of elements on the low bar at a time when most gymnasts did the minimum two elements on the low bar.

Eponymous skill

Onodi has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points.

Post-retirement

In 2001 Ónodi graduated with a degree in marketing and found a job in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, as Director of Community Relations for the World Olympians Association. She married Jimbo Haley, an American pentathlete who also competed at the 1992 Olympics, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In 2010, she was inducted into the

Competitive History

References

External links

*
List of competitive results at Gymn-Forum

unofficial fan site {{DEFAULTSORT:Onodi, Henrietta 1974 births Living people People from Békéscsaba Hungarian female artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of Hungary Olympic gold medalists for Hungary Olympic silver medalists for Hungary Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Naturalized citizens of the United States Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games medalists in gymnastics European champions in gymnastics Sportspeople from Békés County