Marius Daniel Urzică (born 30 September 1975 in

Toplița Toplița (; , ) is a Municipiu, city in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania. The settlement has had multiple name changes: ''Taplócza'', ''Toplicza'', ''Gyergyó-Toplicza'', from February 3, 1861 ''Oláh-Toplicza'', or "Romanian Toplița", ...

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

) is a

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

. Urzică is an Olympic champion, a three-time world champion and a three-time European champion on

pommel horse The pommel horse, also known as vaulting horse, is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal bo ...

. He competed at three Olympic Games, medaling each time on pommel horse (gold Sydney 2000, silver Atlanta 1996 and silver Athens 2004) and contributed to the team bronze in Athens 2004. His unique technique and style of performance have won him the recognition as one of the greatest masters on this piece of apparatus ever, together with

Miroslav Cerar Miroslav Cerar may refer to: * Miroslav Cerar (gymnast) (born 1938), Slovenian lawyer, gymnast and Olympic gold medalist and father of Miroslav Cerar Jr. * Miroslav Cerar (politician) (born 1963), Slovenian lawyer and politician, son of Miros ...

and

Zoltán Magyar Zoltán Magyar (born 13 December 1953) is a Hungarian former gymnast who was the world's leading pommel horse gymnast in the 1970s. In this event he won two Olympic, three world, three European and two World Cup titles. Magyar had two moves n ...

.Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique
Marius Urzică Known as "The King of the Pommels" in 2001 he achieved the maximum score of 10.00 on this piece of apparatus at the Glasgow Grand Prix.
2001 Glasgow Grand Prix Men Final Events Two elements in

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

, one on pommel horseFédération Internationale de Gymnastique
Code of points Men Artistic Gymnastics 2009–2012 page 69 and one on parallel bars
Code of points Men Artistic Gymnastics 2009–2012 page 114 are named after him. He was the founder of '' Romanian Golden Team''.

Skills

Urzică had difficult routines, which he always tried to execute without fault. Among his skills on the pommel horse was a super E element called "the four Russians on one handle" and a move named after him rated C in the Code of points. On parallel bars he was known for his eponymous salto forward to 1/1 turn to upper arm hang rated E.

References

External links

*
Marius Urzica
at Gymn Forum * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Urzica, Marius 1975 births Living people People from Toplița Romanian male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for Romania Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Olympic bronze medalists for Romania World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships European champions in gymnastics Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Olympic medalists in gymnastics Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics FISU World University Games silver medalists for Romania Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Harghita County Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade 20th-century Romanian sportsmen