| Gabriela Potorac | |
|---|---|
 ' | |
|
Country represented |
|
|
Born |
February 6 1973 |
|
Coach(es) |
Mircea Bibire |
|
Current status |
Retired |
Gabriela Potorac (born February 6, 1973 in Bacău, Romania) is a former artistic gymnast from Romania, who was a member of the 1988 Romanian Olympic team and 1989 European balance beam champion. Her best event was balance beam.
Career[]
Potorac began gymnastics in 1978 when she was discovered as a young child at school. She began training as CS Bacău and eventually moved to Deva while still in elementary school. Potorac began competing internationally in 1986. At the 1986 Junior European Championships she came in 6th in the all-around and won a bronze medal on uneven bars. That year she also represented Romania at the first Goodwill Games where she placed 4th all-around and with the team and advanced to three event finals. In 1987 she won the gold medal in the all-around at the Cottbus Cup.
Potorac was still age-eligible to compete as a junior in 1988 so she was sent to the Junior European Championships in Avignon, France. Here she won a gold medal on balance beam, silver medals in the all-around and on uneven bars, a bronze medal on floor exercise and a fourth place finish on vault. Potorac's performance earned her a spot on the 1988 Romanian Olympic Team. In Seoul she helped the Romanian team win a silver medal in the team competition. Individually Potorac qualified to the all-around final as well as the vault and balance beam final. Potorac placed a surprising 4th in the all-around final and won a silver medal on vault and a bronze medal on balance beam, tying with American Phoebe Mills.
Going into 1989 Potorac was a favorite to win the European all-around title. Despite this, she failed to medal in the all-around. She did however win a gold medal on the balance beam. Later that year Potorac competed in the 1989 World Championships. Here she had what was considered to be a somewhat disappointing performance, based on prior expectations, placing 16th in the all-around, 6th on vault, 5th on uneven bars and a bronze medal finish on balance beam.
Potorac retired after the Dutch Open in 1990. Following retirement she attended the Sports University in Bucharest and then coached at Triumf Bucharest. In 1993 she moved to Japan to coach.
Medal Count[]
| Year | Event | TF | AA | VT | UB | BB | FX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Junior European Championships | 6 | 4 | 3rd | 4 | ||
| Moscow Goodwill Games | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | |||
| 1987 | Cottbus Cup | 1st | |||||
| Junior Balkan Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st | ||||
| 1988 | Arthur Gander Memorial | 1st | |||||
| Cottbus Cup | 2nd | 1st | |||||
| McDonald's American Cup | 5 | ||||||
| Balkan Championships | 1st | 1st | |||||
| Junior European Championships | 2nd | 4 | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | ||
| Seoul Olympic Games | 2nd | 4 | 2nd | 3rd | |||
| 1989 | Brussels European Championships | 4 | 4 | 1st | |||
| Stuttgart World Championships | 2nd | 16 | 6 | 5 | 3rd |
Floor Music[]
1988 - "Cirocirlia" by Gheorghe Zamfir
1989 - "Show Me"