Mónica Ferrández Arenas (born 25 October 1974) is a Spanish

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...

and trainer. She's a European and World medalist.

Career

Mónica took up the port at age 6 as an extracurricular activity, after a few months she started training at the Club Atlético Montemar until she was incorporated into the national team in 1988. In 1990 she won bronze at the Spanish national championships, behind Ada Liberio and

Noelia Fernández Noelia Fernández may refer to: * Noelia Fernández (cyclist) * Noelia Fernández (gymnast) {{hndis, Fernandez, Noelia ...

. In November she was selected for the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

where she won team bronze along with

Carolina Pascual Carolina Pascual Gracia (born 17 June 1976 in Orihuela, Alicante) is a former Spanish Individual Rhythmic Gymnast. She is the 1992 Olympics silver medalist and the 1993 European all-around bronze medalist. Career Pascual was doing ballet w ...

and

Noelia Fernández Noelia Fernández may refer to: * Noelia Fernández (cyclist) * Noelia Fernández (gymnast) {{hndis, Fernandez, Noelia ...

, she was as well 7th in the All-Around. In October 1991 she competed 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, ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, where she was 6th in the All-Around, 5th with rope, 7th with hoop, 6th with ball, and 7th with clubs, winning bronze in the team category along with

Carmen Acedo Carmen Acedo Jorge (born February 10, 1975 in Lérida, Spain) is a retired individual rhythmic gymnast from Spain. Biography Acedo trained with Rosa Menor as a junior at club Patricia. She was first selected for the Spanish junior group in 1 ...

and

. At the national championships, she won silver between Carolina Pascual and Carolina Borrell. In the 1991 Spanish Cup Final, held in Malaga, she won ex aequo with her teammate Carmen Acedo, as well as being a gold medalist in the communities. She retired in 1992 because of

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain (PHP) is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the f ...

in her left foot. After her retirement, she was the coach of the national junior group, made of Claudia Heredia Paula Gómez, Sara González, Miriam Guerra, Carmen Martínez, and Victoria Plaza, together with Yolanda Andrés from 2012 to 2013. In November 2012 the junior group participated in an exhibition at the Euskalgym. In April 2013 they debuted their routine in an exhibition at the Copa de la Reina in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, and on May 31 the group participated in the European Championship in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where they finished in 16th place in the All-Around after having made two rotations with 5 hoops. Currently, Mónica is the coordinator of the Escuela Municipal de Gimnasia Rítmica of

Torrevieja Torrevieja (; ca-valencia, Torrevella ) is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, in the southern part of the Valencian Community, on the southeastern Mediterranean coast of Spain. Torrevieja l ...

(Alicante), where she also teaches. In Torrevieja she invited in the technical team other former gymnasts such as Mari Carmen Moreno or Jennifer Colino. Ferrández has also coached national team gymnast

Polina Berezina Polina Berezina Ksenofontova (born December 5, 1997) is a Russian-born Spanish individual rhythmic gymnast. She is a five-time (2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022) all-around champion at the Spanish Rhythmic Gymnastic Championships. Personal life S ...

since she arrived at Club Torrevieja at the age of 7. Berezina has been an international with the Spanish junior team in 2013, and senior since 2014, and has several Spanish championship titles in different categories. Ferrández trains Polina individually at the Palacio de los Deportes in Torrevieja and travels with her to all competitions. In September 2018 she took advantage of her trip to the

Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. The tournament is promoted and organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). It is one of the three tournaments in rhy ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

as part of the staff of the national team, to join several former Spanish gymnasts and meet again with the former national coach Emilia Boneva, also organizing a tribute dinner in her honor. On November 16, 2019, on the occasion of the death of Emilia Boneva, some 70 former national gymnasts, including Mónica, gathered on the mat to pay tribute to her during the Euskalgym. The event took place in front of 8,500 attendees at the

Bilbao Exhibition Centre The Bilbao Exhibition Centre (commonly abbreviated as BEC) is an exhibition centre in Barakaldo, Basque Country, Spain. The current headquarters of the Feria de Muestras de Bilbao, its facilities are located on land formerly occupied by the Basque ...

Baracaldo Barakaldo ( es, Baracaldo; eu, Barakaldo ) is a municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country. Located on the Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is part of Greater Bilbao, has a population at 100,881. Barakaldo ha ...

and was also followed by a tribute dinner in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrandez, Monica 1974 births Living people Spanish rhythmic gymnasts Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Sportspeople from Córdoba, Spain