By Claire B.
The 2018 Romanian Nationals took place from October 12 through October 14 in Ploiesti.
Junior Silviana Sfiringu dominated the competition with golds in the all-around, on vault, and floor, and bronze on uneven bars. She also managed a 6th place finish on beam despite major breaks on several jumps and turns (it’s worth noting that her acro elements—including a round-off loso mount, bh loso loso series, ro bh triple full dismount—were solid and well-executed). In the absence of reigning vault champion Denisa Golgota, Sfiringu was the only competitor to perform a double-twisting Yurchenko on vault. Sfiringu’s Constanta teammate and fellow junior Ioana Stanciulescu placed second in the all-around, with senior Nica Ivanus (Cetate Deva) finishing third (keep in mind that Sifringu, Stanciulescu, and all of the other junior competitors are ineligible for this year’s World Championships team). The full results are available on TheGymter.net.
The biggest news was favorite Denisa Golgota withdrawing prior to the competition. Golgota, who won bronze on vault and silver on floor at this year’s European Championships, has been a bright spot for the struggling Romanian gymnastics program. In a TV interview after the competition, Golgota reported that she has a muscle contracture in her leg and did not want to risk further injury before the World Championships in Doha later this month. She clarified that she is still planning to compete in Doha. Her goals are to compete in the all-around and qualify for the floor and vault event finals. However, if her injury won’t allow her to compete all-around, she wants at least to compete on vault to help the team (which sorely needs her DTY).
Romania’s recently-named Worlds team are heavily depending on Golgota’s scores in order to place in the Top 24 at this year’s competition (thus securing a team berth to 2019 Worlds and still having a shot at qualifying to the 2020 Olympic Team event). The remaining Worlds team members—Nica Ivanus, Ioana Crisan, Maria Holbura, Laura Iacob, and Carmen Ghiciuc—all placed in the Top Ten of the All-Around this weekend, but posted only a handful of scores better than 13 (Ivanus’s 13.550 on BB the notable exception). With less than 3 points separating the 20th-ranked Romanian and 25th-ranked Czech teams, Golgota’s potential scores (including a 14+ on vault) could make the difference between the team advancing or ending their Olympic run in 2018.
