Teodora Ungureanu (born 13 November 1960) is a Romanian former

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

who competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

. She is a three-time Olympic medalist (two silver and one bronze) and a world championships silver medalist. After retiring from gymnastics she has enjoyed a successful career as a gymnastics coach.Teodora Ungureanu

Romanian Olympic Committee The Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee ( ro, Comitetul Olimpic și Sportiv Român, COSR) is responsible for Romania's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Romanian Olympic Committee ( ro, Comitetul Olimpic Român) was formed in 1 ...

Gymnastics career

Ungureanu began gymnastics at the age of nine. She trained 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 ...

until she was 12, when she joined the gymnastics school run by

Béla Károlyi Béla Károlyi (; born September 13, 1942) is an ethnic Hungarian Romanian-American gymnastics coach. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralised training system for gymnastics. One of his earliest protégés was Nadia Co ...

and his wife, Márta. At her first Romanian National Championships, in 1971, she placed first in the all-around in the children's division. While Ungureanu was a skilled athlete, medalling at various World Cup and international events, she was frequently overshadowed by her more celebrated teammate and friend,

Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. ...

(who was born the day before Ungureanu's first birthday). She placed second to Comăneci at various events, including the Romanian Nationals. At the

, Ungureanu barely missed an all-around bronze, finishing fourth. She did win two individual medals in the event finals, a bronze on 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 ...

and a silver 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 ...

, and shared in the team's silver medal. Ungureanu's final meet was the 1979

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, where she finished first in the all-around.

Post retirement

Following her retirement, she married Romanian Olympic gymnast Sorin Cepoi and began working with the Troup Cornea travelling circus. She and her husband eventually moved to France, where they coached for eight years before going to the United States in 1993. In 2001, 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 ...

. Currently, Ungureanu and her husband own Dynamic Gymnastics club in Westchester, New York. Ungureanu coached four-year national team member and 2011 world champion

Sabrina Vega Sabrina Vega (born May 24, 1995) is a retired American gymnast from Carmel, New York. She was a five-time national team member and a member of the United States team that won gold at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She later co ...

until 2012 at Dynamic Gymnastics. Ungureanu is also rated as an International Gymnastics Official and serves as a judge at various competitions.

Competitive history

References

External links

*
Bio at romanian-gymnastics.comDynamic Gymnastics Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ungureanu, Teodora 1960 births Living people Romanian female artistic gymnasts Romanian emigrants to the United States American gymnastics coaches American sportswomen Olympic gymnasts for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Olympic bronze medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Sportspeople from Reșița 21st-century American women