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Larisa Iordache, Daniela Trică, Antonia Duţă (Dinamo Bucharest), Silviana Sfiringu and Ioana Stanciulescu (Farul Constanţa) are the five girls who made up the Romanian team at the Mersin European Championship.
At the center of attention, after this success, was Larisa Iordache. And the fact is that the return of the 24-year-old athlete to the national team has a special history. The Bucharest woman had to take a three-year break from competitions, starting in 2017, due to an Achilles tendon injury. In fact, Larisa’s entire career was marked by medical problems.
He noticed when he was skating!
Like all girls who start gymnastics, Larisa began her sports career at an early age. At the age of 4 and a half, he was already a member of the Dinamo Sports Club! And her connection to this sport was best described by Larisa herself: “Gymnastics chose me, not the other way around!”
This statement from our champion also has an interesting story. Iordache was noticed by her first gymnastics coach, Mariana Câmpeanu-Silişteanu, while she was rolling! “I think the coach was impressed with my speed and energy,” Larisa said at one point. Who did so well in the gym that, in 2008, he was already part of the junior national team.
In fact, since 2010, since its first participation in an international competition, Iordache, nicknamed “New Nobody”, has obtained very good results. At the European Championships in Birmingham, he contributed to a second place earned by the Romanian team. And in the individual compound, she was ranked 3. It was obvious that Larisa is ready to take the step towards seniors, which happened in 2012.
London and get on the Olympic podium
At just 16 years old, Larisa Iordache had the opportunity to compete in an edition of the Olympic Games. It happened in London, where Romania achieved the last great Olympic performance.
Being in a team with Diana Bulimar, Diana Chelaru, Sandra Izbaşa and Cătălina Ponor, Larisa took the podium with her colleagues, obtaining Romania the bronze medal. Unfortunately, the London run also ushered in medical problems for Larisa Iordache. He competed in the Olympics, suffering from plantar fasciitis. That’s why it was only 50% of her potential, as coach Mariana Bitang admitted. For this reason, after the Olympic test, Iordache had to finish the year of competition.
2014, his year of glory
After a 2013 in which she won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Antwerp (Belgium) and three silver medals at the European Championships in Moscow (Russia), for Larisa Iordache the best year of her career would come!
With a total of six medals won in 2014, at the World and European Championships, two of which were gold, Larisa was the best gymnast of the season, internationally!
Injuries stopped their ascent
Unfortunately, after that dream competitive season in 2014, physical wear and tear left its mark on Iordache’s career.
In 2015, he had to resign from the Doha (Qatar) and Cottbus (Germany) World Cup stages due to an ankle injury. Later, for the same reason, he retired to the European Championship in Montpellier (France).
And Larisa’s medical problems continued with a fractured finger, in 2016. Without Iordache, unavailable, the women’s team missed qualification for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Under these conditions, Romania sent only one gymnast to the 2016 Olympic Games, this is Cătălina Ponor. Larisa Iordache, her reserve, accompanied her.
Unfortunately, 2017 would bring Larisa’s worst medical problem, an Achilles tendon injury. The woman from Bucharest fought for a long time for this reason and was sent to Vienna (Austria) for surgery. It was only in 2019 that Iordache was convinced that he had recovered one hundred percent and announced his intention to return to the gym.
Unfortunately, his return to a competition in October 2020 had to be postponed after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Only in November, the Romanian managed to compete in the National Championships, where she ranked fourth.
His great victory came on Saturday, when he took the podium with the Romanian team, obtaining silver at the European Championship in Mersin (Turkey).
39
of medals Larisa Iordache won in her career so far, of which 19 gold.
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