Irina Petris – Rising star in gymnastics
Bucharest, Romania

At age 12, she is a member of the 2005 team that placed first in the Romanian national championships. Born in 1993, Irina started gymnastics at age of 6. Through a finely-tuned program intended to identify potential athletes, she was selected together with another kindergarten classmate for the trial group of the Steaua Gymnastics Club in Bucharest. After 6 months she passed into the high performance group. The training is strenuous. It takes place six days a week, four hours a day. A few weeks before any contest, two times a day for three hours each time. Her favorite routines are the uneven bars and vault. Irina’s favorite gymnasts are Floarea Leonida (more), Alexandra Eremia (more) and Catalina Ponor (more).

At the national team competition in May ’05, she was ranked 3rd among 60 contestants allowing her to advance with 31 others to the Individual National Championships in October.

Her best achievements:

Buzau 2004 – 2^nd place with Steaua Club team at the National Teams Championship, 3^rd category

Buzau 2005 – Scholar Championships: 1^st place on uneven bars, 3^rd place on vault

Constanta 2005 – 1^st place with Steaua Club team at the National Team Championship, 3^rd category

Constanta 2005 – 3^st place on All Around individual ranking, highest score on vault, second score on floor and uneven bars

Coaches of the Steaua team are: Eliza Stoica, Elena Ceampelea, Angela Cacoveanu, Mariana Ristea, Gheorghe Neagu

NOTE: For information on Romanian gymnastics go to …

Photos © Bogdan Petris
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