Romanian gymnast Catalina Ponor, ranked 7th in the beam final at Rio Olympics, on Tuesday posted an open letter on her Facebook personal account, replying to those who criticized her. She says she has been affected by the negative comments saying that she didn’t deserve to attend the Olympics in Brazil.
“It has been an extremely difficult and stressed day for me. There are years of work behind, the level is up, gymnastics is not what it used to be. Now you can either win with very difficult acrobatics or a perfect artistic performance. I tried to combine them and I was wrong for the pressure was too high. Being the only female gymnast representing Romania, I had to please everybody in a way or another even if I had nothing to prove, maybe to prove only to me that I still can!”, she begins her confession.
“I would say I felt more at my best than when I was 16. And I could have made it if I hadn’t felt all comments and negative waves that I did not deserve being at the Olympics like a claw that wanted to get me off from the apparatus. I wanted too much, my soul was broken, I have been crying all night long, I wanted to stop at some point by I couldn’t, it hasn’t been easy for me to ignore all that I saw and heard around me and on social media or in the media and it is not easy, not even now,” Ponor complains.
“Am I really an old trout at 29 years old when there are “N” female gymnasts in this world older than 30? But it’s harder to know it for not all those ones have memorable results! Ugly? Maybe I am ugly, I don’t know, not everyone is a cover girl, I was not and I am not a bimbo-like athlete who cannot resist without false nails, died hair or false eyelashes (…) for I am much too focused on what I have to do!
A bitch? Unfortunately I will honestly tell you that many will withdraw his words after they know me, for I am more than a warm-hearted person, I don’t hate, I don’t wish that the other hurts himself, I have always been there when I was needed, but only those who stood by me for better or for worse can know that, not those fake people who smile to you and after a few seconds turn your back and gossip you for they cannot stand you!
Capricious? The fact that I wear a mask when I train myself or when racing proves how much I want to do something, but frustrated persons will never see my real face, and those who get to know me even for the first time say: < Can you believe me that I didn’t think not even for a second that you are so kind and a good head on your shoulder?>”.
The Romanian gymnast thinks that it’s going to be long until a new Olympic champion appears in Romania, while wondering why nobody see all that she had been doing for the women gymnastics team.
“I wonder haven’t I done anything for the team all these years? It seems that many forgot how long I have been in gymnastics, it seems that many lost their respect for an athlete who dedicated all his/her life to a sport, sacrificing all his/her personal life to feel the results of his 25-year-old work or to make thousands of Romanians feel proud!
Sometimes I feel I am more appreciated by the foreigners, by people who have no Romanian blood running through their veins, but who cry for me, with me and who wanted more than many Romanians to see me being able to get another result at this Olympiad, many threw stones at me when hearing I will race for the third Olympic Games (….) Oh, let’s not forget about those 5 Olympic medals! Some people are not so impressed anymore with this result for they see this result as like in the past. It’s true, this happened some time ago, but you’d better look carefully, I personally don’t see any gymnast obtaining such a result in the near future! A piece of advice… Cherish what you have, as long as you have it, for it will take some time until the next Olympic triple champion is born!” Catalina Ponor ends her letter, while not forgetting to thank all those who endorsed her during her career.
Gymnast Catalina Ponor was ranked 7th in the beam final on Monday in the Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro. Ponor announced that she would not withdraw from sports at her 29 years and is considering participating in the 2020 Olympic Games of Tokyo. Ponor has five medals achieved during the Olympic Games: three gold medals in Athens in 2004, one silver medal and a bronze one in London in 2012.
PM Ciolos: We shouldn’t be just victory consumers
PM Dacian Ciolos sprang to her and male gymnast Marian Dragulescu’s defence, urging Romanians not to be only “victory consumers” and support the Romanian athletes, such as Catalina Ponor and Marian Dragulescu, “who give everything in the Olympic Games.”
“Catalina Ponor knows to give when she wins, as she also gives when going through more difficult times. We should be by her side, by Marian Dragulescu’s side, by the side of all Romanian athletes who give everything in the Olympic Games, let us tell them we love them for what they are and what they do. Let’s not be only victory consumers. At such moments, we must be true supporters for all those for whom sports is a way of life, a character builder — sometimes in very harsh conditions, is fair-play and self-improvement. It is the moment to acknowledge that, after every competition, we must also learn our lessons, as people called to support them, to encourage them. We are by your side, Catalina, Marian, we love and appreciate you very much, as we know how much you work and how much you give to represent us there and to offer us moments of joy and emotion,” Prime Minister Ciolos wrote on Facebook.
At the same time, retorting to a comment, Ciolos says that a failure can be “a step forward.”
“(…) No, we mustn’t get accustomed to failures, under any circumstance. We must only accept that sometimes life makes us learn from failures, too, in order to be able to overcome them. Let us accept that a failure, too, can be a step forward (…), same as a victory. A true competitor knows this,” Ciolos also wrote.
Male gymnast Marian Dragulescu missed the bronze medal in the vault event in Rio on Monday, after he was ranked 4th, scoring the same number of points as the bronze medallist, Japanese Kenzo Shirai.
Romania missed the Olympic medals in gymnastics for the first time after 44 years. From 1976 until 2012, Romania won at least a gold medal.
Catalina Ponor is the second Romanian athlete who rages against her critics after tennis player Simona Halep harshly retorted to those slamming her for her failures.
Gymnast Catalina Ponor replies to critics: Cherish what you have. No Olympic champion to be born soon
Romanian gymnast Catalina Ponor, ranked 7th in the beam final at Rio Olympics, on Tuesday posted an open letter on her Facebook personal account, replying to those who criticized her. She says she has been affected by the negative comments saying that she didn’t deserve to attend the Olympics in Brazil.
“It has been an extremely difficult and stressed day for me. There are years of work behind, the level is up, gymnastics is not what it used to be. Now you can either win with very difficult acrobatics or a perfect artistic performance. I tried to combine them and I was wrong for the pressure was too high. Being the only female gymnast representing Romania, I had to please everybody in a way or another even if I had nothing to prove, maybe to prove only to me that I still can!”, she begins her confession.
“I would say I felt more at my best than when I was 16. And I could have made it if I hadn’t felt all comments and negative waves that I did not deserve being at the Olympics like a claw that wanted to get me off from the apparatus. I wanted too much, my soul was broken, I have been crying all night long, I wanted to stop at some point by I couldn’t, it hasn’t been easy for me to ignore all that I saw and heard around me and on social media or in the media and it is not easy, not even now,” Ponor complains.
“Am I really an old trout at 29 years old when there are “N” female gymnasts in this world older than 30? But it’s harder to know it for not all those ones have memorable results! Ugly? Maybe I am ugly, I don’t know, not everyone is a cover girl, I was not and I am not a bimbo-like athlete who cannot resist without false nails, died hair or false eyelashes (…) for I am much too focused on what I have to do!
A bitch? Unfortunately I will honestly tell you that many will withdraw his words after they know me, for I am more than a warm-hearted person, I don’t hate, I don’t wish that the other hurts himself, I have always been there when I was needed, but only those who stood by me for better or for worse can know that, not those fake people who smile to you and after a few seconds turn your back and gossip you for they cannot stand you!
Capricious? The fact that I wear a mask when I train myself or when racing proves how much I want to do something, but frustrated persons will never see my real face, and those who get to know me even for the first time say: < Can you believe me that I didn’t think not even for a second that you are so kind and a good head on your shoulder?>”.
The Romanian gymnast thinks that it’s going to be long until a new Olympic champion appears in Romania, while wondering why nobody see all that she had been doing for the women gymnastics team.
“I wonder haven’t I done anything for the team all these years? It seems that many forgot how long I have been in gymnastics, it seems that many lost their respect for an athlete who dedicated all his/her life to a sport, sacrificing all his/her personal life to feel the results of his 25-year-old work or to make thousands of Romanians feel proud!
Sometimes I feel I am more appreciated by the foreigners, by people who have no Romanian blood running through their veins, but who cry for me, with me and who wanted more than many Romanians to see me being able to get another result at this Olympiad, many threw stones at me when hearing I will race for the third Olympic Games (….) Oh, let’s not forget about those 5 Olympic medals! Some people are not so impressed anymore with this result for they see this result as like in the past. It’s true, this happened some time ago, but you’d better look carefully, I personally don’t see any gymnast obtaining such a result in the near future! A piece of advice… Cherish what you have, as long as you have it, for it will take some time until the next Olympic triple champion is born!” Catalina Ponor ends her letter, while not forgetting to thank all those who endorsed her during her career.
Gymnast Catalina Ponor was ranked 7th in the beam final on Monday in the Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro. Ponor announced that she would not withdraw from sports at her 29 years and is considering participating in the 2020 Olympic Games of Tokyo. Ponor has five medals achieved during the Olympic Games: three gold medals in Athens in 2004, one silver medal and a bronze one in London in 2012.
PM Ciolos: We shouldn’t be just victory consumers
PM Dacian Ciolos sprang to her and male gymnast Marian Dragulescu’s defence, urging Romanians not to be only “victory consumers” and support the Romanian athletes, such as Catalina Ponor and Marian Dragulescu, “who give everything in the Olympic Games.”
“Catalina Ponor knows to give when she wins, as she also gives when going through more difficult times. We should be by her side, by Marian Dragulescu’s side, by the side of all Romanian athletes who give everything in the Olympic Games, let us tell them we love them for what they are and what they do. Let’s not be only victory consumers. At such moments, we must be true supporters for all those for whom sports is a way of life, a character builder — sometimes in very harsh conditions, is fair-play and self-improvement. It is the moment to acknowledge that, after every competition, we must also learn our lessons, as people called to support them, to encourage them. We are by your side, Catalina, Marian, we love and appreciate you very much, as we know how much you work and how much you give to represent us there and to offer us moments of joy and emotion,” Prime Minister Ciolos wrote on Facebook.
At the same time, retorting to a comment, Ciolos says that a failure can be “a step forward.”
“(…) No, we mustn’t get accustomed to failures, under any circumstance. We must only accept that sometimes life makes us learn from failures, too, in order to be able to overcome them. Let us accept that a failure, too, can be a step forward (…), same as a victory. A true competitor knows this,” Ciolos also wrote.
Male gymnast Marian Dragulescu missed the bronze medal in the vault event in Rio on Monday, after he was ranked 4th, scoring the same number of points as the bronze medallist, Japanese Kenzo Shirai.
Romania missed the Olympic medals in gymnastics for the first time after 44 years. From 1976 until 2012, Romania won at least a gold medal.
Catalina Ponor is the second Romanian athlete who rages against her critics after tennis player Simona Halep harshly retorted to those slamming her for her failures.