Elena Gómez Servera (born November 14, 1985, in

Manacor Manacor () is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality on the island of Mallorca, part of the Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is the second-largest town in Mallorca, after the capi ...

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) is a Spanish former

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. Her best event was floor exercise. She is one of the best gymnasts that Spain has had in the history of this sport, being the only one to get a gold medal in a world championship.

Career

Junior career

At the 2000 Junior European Championships, Gomez placed 6th in both the team final and the individual all-around final.

Senior career

Gomez made her senior debut in 2001. At the 2001 World Championships in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, Belgium, Gomez and the Spanish team placed 4th in the team final. Individually, Gomez placed 17th in the all-around final and 6th in the balance beam final. Gomez attended the 2002 European Championships. Here she placed 7th in the all-around, 6th on vault, 8th on balance beam and 4th on floor exercise. Later that year at the 2002 World Championships in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

, Hungary Gomez won the floor exercise final. Gomez was the first-ever Spanish female gymnast to win a World title in Women's Artistic Gymnastics. The following year, Gomez attended the 2003 World Championships in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

, California. Here, the Spanish team placed 5th, therefore qualifying a full team to the 2004 Summer Olympics. She won bronze the medal in floor exercise the following year in Anaheim using the same routine with the score of 9.675. Additionally, Gomez placed 5th in both the all-around final and the balance beam final. In 2004 Gomez competed at the 2004 European Championships. Here, the Spanish team placed 4th. Individually, Gomez placed 5th in the all-around, and won a silver medal on the floor exercise. Gomez was named to the Spanish team for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

where she placed 8th in the all-around. The Spanish team placed fifth.

Post-retirement and personal life

Gómez announced that she was retiring from the sport in 2006, following injuries sustained in training. She has three sisters, notably the younger: Natalia, also known as guitarist of the rock band Puja Fasua.

Eponymous skill

Gómez has the quadruple

pirouette In dance and gymnastics, a turn is a rotation of the body about the vertical axis. It is usually a complete rotation of the body, although quarter (90°) and half (180°) turns are possible for some types of turns. Multiple, consecutive turns are ...

named after her in the Code of Points.

Floor music

2001-2002:''
"Mozart L'Egyptien: Mawwall" by Milen Natchev & the Bulgarian Symphonic Orchestra
2002-2004:''
"Jump Up Boogie" by Charlie Normal and Robert Wells
2004:''
"Respirando" by Ana Belen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Elena 1985 births Living people Spanish female artistic gymnasts Sportspeople from Manacor Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships World champion gymnasts Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Olympic gymnasts for Spain Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Spain Mediterranean Games medalists in gymnastics Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games 21st-century Spanish sportswomen