Marian Dragulescu
Encyclopedia
Marian Drăgulescu is a Romania
n artistic gymnast. During his senior gymnastics career he has won an impressive number of 26 medals at Olympic games, World or European Championships among which eight gold medals at World Championships. He is particularly strong on both the Floor Exercise and Vault apparatuses where he has won many Olympic, World Championship and European Championship titles and medals. His 4 World Championship (2001, 2002, 2006, and 2009), and 3 European Championship (2000, 2004, and 2005) gold medals on the Floor Exercise are all-time, unmatched records at those respective championships. He is equally outstanding on Vault where he is 4-time World Champion (2001, 2005, 2006, 2009) and 2-time World Cup Finals Champion (2000, 2006) - both also unsurpassed, all-time records at those respective championship. His name is also frequently referenced because of the extremely spectacular and difficult vault named after him: handspring double front somersault with half turn. He has also proven himself competent over all 6 events combined in the All-Around competition as he was the Bronze medalist in 2000 and then the Champion in 2004 at the European Championships, as well as at the 2004 Olympic Games where he placed 8th.
His debut as a junior at a major international competition was in 1998 European Championships in St. Petersburg. Here he won gold for pommel horse, silver on vault, bronze on floor and with the team and placed eight all around.
, where he placed fourth on vault, eight on high bar and 26th all around. One year later he won an all-around bronze, a gold on floor and a silver with the team at the 2000 European championships in Bremen ahead of the Sydney Games. His debut at the Olympic Games in 2000 was rather modest, coming sixth on the floor and 13th in the all-around. He soon overcame the disappointment suffered in Sydney at the world championships at Ghent in Belgium the following year, where he was in top form, winning gold on the floor and on vault. In 2002 he added three more gold medals to his collection on two on vault and with the team and a bronze on floor at the 2002 Europeans and at the 2002 Worlds
. For his achievements he was awarded the “Gymnast of the Year Award” (2002) by the International Press Association. He received this award during the 2003 World Championships
in Anaheim. Here he won silver on vault, placed fourth on floor in a final in which silver was not awarded, sixth all around and fourth with the team.
were an especially successful met for Drăgulescu. He helped his team to defend their title previously won in 2002. Additionally, Marian won the all around title, and gold medals on floor and on vault. The only other gymnast to win four gold medals at a European Championships was Nadia Comăneci
, who captured four gold medals at the 1975 European Championships. His success at the 2004 Europeans made him one of the favorites for medals at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens
.
At the 2004 Olympic Games Drăgulescu helped his team to a bronze medal and was a forerunner in the all around event until a mistake on the high bar, after which he still thrilled the crowd with a difficult routine. He won silver in the men's floor only after a tiebreaker was needed with gold medalist Kyle Shewfelt
. On the men's vault he performed the exceptionally difficult vault that bears his name (a handspring double front with half turn) and received a 9.9, the highest score awarded in World or Olympic competition since 1995. It seemed he needed only to land his second vault to take gold, but he fell. However Drăgulescu was still awarded the bronze, a controversial decision because the disparity between the judges scores was greater than is permitted and therefore some or all of them should have been altered. They were not, and Shewfelt
was pushed into fourth place. The Canadian federation filed a protest, but the result stood. In 2005 the judges involved were suspended for one year.
in 2005 he won the vault title. He had long been hampered by the lack of a strong second vault, but debuted a new one- a round off half twist entry to forwards two and a half twist. Since then he has dominated that event, retaining his title at the 2006 World Championships
in Aarhus
, Denmark
and winning the floor title as well. Drăgulescu no longer competed in all six events, which had given him more time to focus on those he still trained.
In 2007 he participated at the European Championships which turned to be an unfortunate event for him. On the floor exercise he did not manage to complete his routine. After a heavy landing to the back of his head on a layout Thomas salto
, he twice attempted to run into his final tumbling pass. Instead of tumbling, he stopped and walked off the podium. Later in the afternoon Dragulescu competed in the vault final, but missed his second vault (round-off, half-on, 2-1/2 twisting front). The heavy landing caused him a back injury and he was advised by the doctors in Romania
to stop training and to undergo a detailed investigation in the USA. Therefore, he missed the 2007 world championships
and he resumed training only a couple of months before the 2008 Olympic Games
Marian attempted to win an Olympic title on vault at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But, the same situation from Athens 2004 happened at Beijing 2008 too, after a perfect first vault (noted 16.800) he fell at the second one and lost his chance to win his first Olympic Gold Medal. In addition, when comparing to Athens, he did not medal. Instead he placed fourth on vault, seventh on floor and seventh with the team.
’s club, KTV Straubenhardt. In the club's first three competitions, Dragulescu competed on floor and vault, obtaining the league's top scores on the latter event: 16.500 in the first two competitions, and 16.300 in the third one. The club won the second place in December 2008. After competing in the German league Dragulescu formally announced his retirement. He went to coach gymnastics alongside his former team colleagues Marius Urzică
and Dan Potra at Dinamo Club Bucharest. He declared that his goal is to create a gymnast better than himself.
.
and the 2010 Romanian Nationals. However, he was a member of the Romanian team at the 2010 World Championships
. Here he only competed on vault, floor, and high bar but did not manage to qualify with the team or in any event final.
After skipping the 2011 spring competition season Drăgulescu once again made a comeback at the Romanian National Championships at the end of August. This competition marked his comeback as an all around gymnast after a break of more than seven years. In October he joined the team at the 2011 World Championships
and competed in the preliminary rounds for the Romanian team, helping them to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. He made the all-around, floor and vault finals giving him an opportunity to regain his titles. However, due to an injury he was unable to compete pulling out of all three events.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n artistic gymnast. During his senior gymnastics career he has won an impressive number of 26 medals at Olympic games, World or European Championships among which eight gold medals at World Championships. He is particularly strong on both the Floor Exercise and Vault apparatuses where he has won many Olympic, World Championship and European Championship titles and medals. His 4 World Championship (2001, 2002, 2006, and 2009), and 3 European Championship (2000, 2004, and 2005) gold medals on the Floor Exercise are all-time, unmatched records at those respective championships. He is equally outstanding on Vault where he is 4-time World Champion (2001, 2005, 2006, 2009) and 2-time World Cup Finals Champion (2000, 2006) - both also unsurpassed, all-time records at those respective championship. His name is also frequently referenced because of the extremely spectacular and difficult vault named after him: handspring double front somersault with half turn. He has also proven himself competent over all 6 events combined in the All-Around competition as he was the Bronze medalist in 2000 and then the Champion in 2004 at the European Championships, as well as at the 2004 Olympic Games where he placed 8th.
Early life and career
As a young boy, Dragulescu only attended gymnastics lessons because they were an excuse to get out of karate. However as training became more intense he decided to switch to swimming because it was free. His father was not aware that his son was not at gymnastics. But Marian soon went back to the gym as swimming was no longer free after three months.His debut as a junior at a major international competition was in 1998 European Championships in St. Petersburg. Here he won gold for pommel horse, silver on vault, bronze on floor and with the team and placed eight all around.
1999-2003
His first participation as a senior at a major event was at the 1999 World Championships1999 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 34th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held at Tianjin Arena in Tianjin, China in 1999.-All-around:-Apparatus:-All-around:-Apparatus:...
, where he placed fourth on vault, eight on high bar and 26th all around. One year later he won an all-around bronze, a gold on floor and a silver with the team at the 2000 European championships in Bremen ahead of the Sydney Games. His debut at the Olympic Games in 2000 was rather modest, coming sixth on the floor and 13th in the all-around. He soon overcame the disappointment suffered in Sydney at the world championships at Ghent in Belgium the following year, where he was in top form, winning gold on the floor and on vault. In 2002 he added three more gold medals to his collection on two on vault and with the team and a bronze on floor at the 2002 Europeans and at the 2002 Worlds
2002 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 36th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary, in 2002 at Főnix Hall.The team and all-around events were not contested at the 2002 Worlds. The format was similar to that of the 1992 Worlds, with medals being awarded for the individual WAG and MAG apparatus...
. For his achievements he was awarded the “Gymnast of the Year Award” (2002) by the International Press Association. He received this award during the 2003 World Championships
2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 37th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Anaheim, California, United States, in 2003.Tie-breakers were not used at this competition...
in Anaheim. Here he won silver on vault, placed fourth on floor in a final in which silver was not awarded, sixth all around and fourth with the team.
2004 and the Olympic Games
The 2004 European Championships in LjubljanaLjubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
were an especially successful met for Drăgulescu. He helped his team to defend their title previously won in 2002. Additionally, Marian won the all around title, and gold medals on floor and on vault. The only other gymnast to win four gold medals at a European Championships was Nadia Comăneci
Nadia Comaneci
Nadia Elena Comăneci is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the first female gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer...
, who captured four gold medals at the 1975 European Championships. His success at the 2004 Europeans made him one of the favorites for medals at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
At the 2004 Olympic Games Drăgulescu helped his team to a bronze medal and was a forerunner in the all around event until a mistake on the high bar, after which he still thrilled the crowd with a difficult routine. He won silver in the men's floor only after a tiebreaker was needed with gold medalist Kyle Shewfelt
Kyle Shewfelt
Kyle Keith Shewfelt is a Canadian gymnast. His gold medal in the men's floor exercise competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics was the first medal ever by a Canadian in an artistic gymnastics event and was the first Canadian gold of the 2004 Olympics...
. On the men's vault he performed the exceptionally difficult vault that bears his name (a handspring double front with half turn) and received a 9.9, the highest score awarded in World or Olympic competition since 1995. It seemed he needed only to land his second vault to take gold, but he fell. However Drăgulescu was still awarded the bronze, a controversial decision because the disparity between the judges scores was greater than is permitted and therefore some or all of them should have been altered. They were not, and Shewfelt
Kyle Shewfelt
Kyle Keith Shewfelt is a Canadian gymnast. His gold medal in the men's floor exercise competition at the 2004 Athens Olympics was the first medal ever by a Canadian in an artistic gymnastics event and was the first Canadian gold of the 2004 Olympics...
was pushed into fourth place. The Canadian federation filed a protest, but the result stood. In 2005 the judges involved were suspended for one year.
Post Athens and the 2008 Olympic Games
Drăgulescu announced his retirement mid 2005, but has since returned and in the world championships in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in 2005 he won the vault title. He had long been hampered by the lack of a strong second vault, but debuted a new one- a round off half twist entry to forwards two and a half twist. Since then he has dominated that event, retaining his title at the 2006 World Championships
2006 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
39th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Aarhus, Denmark from October 13 to October 21, 2006 in NRGi Arena.It was the first time the World Gymnastics Championships was organized by a Danish city...
in Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and winning the floor title as well. Drăgulescu no longer competed in all six events, which had given him more time to focus on those he still trained.
In 2007 he participated at the European Championships which turned to be an unfortunate event for him. On the floor exercise he did not manage to complete his routine. After a heavy landing to the back of his head on a layout Thomas salto
Thomas salto
The Thomas salto is an extremely difficult and dangerous move performed during the floor exercise in Artistic gymnastics. It is named after American gymnast Kurt Thomas.-Technical details:...
, he twice attempted to run into his final tumbling pass. Instead of tumbling, he stopped and walked off the podium. Later in the afternoon Dragulescu competed in the vault final, but missed his second vault (round-off, half-on, 2-1/2 twisting front). The heavy landing caused him a back injury and he was advised by the doctors in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
to stop training and to undergo a detailed investigation in the USA. Therefore, he missed the 2007 world championships
2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, from 1 to 9 September 2007.Oldest and youngest competitors- Men :- Women :- Finals :- Qualifications :- Floor :...
and he resumed training only a couple of months before the 2008 Olympic Games
Marian attempted to win an Olympic title on vault at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But, the same situation from Athens 2004 happened at Beijing 2008 too, after a perfect first vault (noted 16.800) he fell at the second one and lost his chance to win his first Olympic Gold Medal. In addition, when comparing to Athens, he did not medal. Instead he placed fourth on vault, seventh on floor and seventh with the team.
Post Beijing
Drǎgulescu was very disappointed when he failed to medal at the Beijing Olympics, saying "my soul broke" after he fell on the landing of his second vault attempt. He announced his retirement and his intention to become a gymnastic coach. However, he reconsidered retirement and went to compete in Germany for Fabian HambuchenFabian Hambüchen
Fabian Hambüchen is a German gymnast. He lives in Wetzlar.Hambüchen was the youngest German athlete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and finished 7th in the Horizontal bar and 8th in the team competition. So far in his career, he has won five medals at World Championships and six at European...
’s club, KTV Straubenhardt. In the club's first three competitions, Dragulescu competed on floor and vault, obtaining the league's top scores on the latter event: 16.500 in the first two competitions, and 16.300 in the third one. The club won the second place in December 2008. After competing in the German league Dragulescu formally announced his retirement. He went to coach gymnastics alongside his former team colleagues Marius Urzică
Marius Urzica
Marius Daniel Urzică is a Romanian gymnast. Urzică is an Olympic champion, a three-time world champion and a three-time European champion on pommel horse. He competed at three Olympic games, medaling each time on pommel horse and contributed to the team bronze in Athens 2004...
and Dan Potra at Dinamo Club Bucharest. He declared that his goal is to create a gymnast better than himself.
2009
However, in 2009 he once again reconsidered his retirement from artistic gymnastics. He had a very successful comeback winning the floor and the vault titles at the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 arena in London, United Kingdom, on 12 October to 18 October 2009. Similar to the World Championships in 2005, there were no team competitions...
.
2010-2011
Drǎgulescu skipped the 2010 European Championships2010 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 29th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held from 21 to 25 April 2010 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The senior and junior events are different. During the senior's qualification the top eight teams progress to the team final, and the top eight gymnasts on each...
and the 2010 Romanian Nationals. However, he was a member of the Romanian team at the 2010 World Championships
2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Ahoy Rotterdam indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnasts...
. Here he only competed on vault, floor, and high bar but did not manage to qualify with the team or in any event final.
After skipping the 2011 spring competition season Drăgulescu once again made a comeback at the Romanian National Championships at the end of August. This competition marked his comeback as an all around gymnast after a break of more than seven years. In October he joined the team at the 2011 World Championships
2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 7–16, 2011 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the International Federation of Gymnastics revealed it was...
and competed in the preliminary rounds for the Romanian team, helping them to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. He made the all-around, floor and vault finals giving him an opportunity to regain his titles. However, due to an injury he was unable to compete pulling out of all three events.
Awards
- Gymnast of the Year (2002); He shared the title with gymnastGymnastGymnasts are people who participate in the sports of either artistic gymnastics, trampolining, or rhythmic gymnastics.See gymnasium for the origin of the word gymnast from gymnastikos.-Female artistic:Australia...
Elena GómezElena GómezElena Gómez Servera is a Spanish artistic gymnast. She is the 2002 World Champion on the floor exercise, where she was the only gymnast to perform a quadruple turn , and the first-ever Spanish female gymnast to win the World title...
. - To honour his past achievements the Romanian Sporting Press awarded him the sportsman of the year award (2005) in a Sports Gala. He shared the award with fencerFencingFencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
Mihai CovaliuMihai CovaliuMihai Claudiu Covaliu is a Romanian retired sabre fencer.Covaliu won the gold medal in the individual sabre event at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games and the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games....
. - Romanian sportsman of the year (2009), he shared the title with boxerBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
Lucian ButeLucian ButeLucian Bute is a Romanian-Canadian professional boxer, currently based in Montreal, Canada. Bute is the current IBF Super Middleweight champion...
.