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Her strong bars set in 2002- lots of nice pirouettes and combinations!
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<em>Ekaterina Lobaznyuk (RUS)</em>
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Fan favorite and charming beauty, Katya showed strong promise as a junior, but scared the gymnastics community when she broke her arm in 1998. But she came back strongly, gaining a lot of attention at the 1999 Worlds. Even though she was competing among legends (including her own teammates), the audience was captivated by Katya’s difficult sets and supreme polish. Though she didn’t qualify for finals (she had to contend against Khorkina, Zamolodchikova, and Produnova!), the gymnastics community knew to expect great things from her in Sydney. Lobaznyuk had a great Olympics, and was set to continue on in the sport. However, injuries continued to plague her, and in her recovery time, other promising juniors were stepping in to take her place. She officially retired in 2002.
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Here is her silver medal winning performance on beam from the Sydney Olympics:
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<em>Ana Porgras (ROM)</em>
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The inspiration from this List, and suggested by <u>many</u> on Twitter!, Ana Porgras of Romania is sadly one of the greatest gymnasts we never got to enjoy seeing at the Olympics. After the Beijing Olympics, Ana made her senior world debut in 2009, immediately impressing everyone with her lines, toe point, and classical style. She was a wonderful blend of the old and the new. Though she was recovering from knee surgery, Ana qualified for the all-around and three event finals, winning a silver on bars. In 2010 at the European Championships, she won a bronze with her team, but injured herself again and needed to pull out of event finals. She came back strongly later that year, winning the balance beam at the Ghent World Cup and the World Championships. In 2011, Ana slowed down a little, showing less consistency and not making as many finals as in years past. After suffering an elbow injury, she announced her retirement in January of 2012, leaving the gymnastics community with a tremendous loss to the start of the Olympic year.
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Ana’s beam from the all-around at the 2011 Worlds, where she finished sixth. Check out her super switch ring!
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<em>Victoria Moors (CAN)</em>
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Inventor of the tremendous double twisting double layout (in addition to an uneven bars dismount), Victoria’s powerful tumbling and expressive choreography gave huge life to the surging Canadian gymnastics team. In 2012, Victoria became a senior elite, and competed consistently leading up to the Olympic Games at the American Cup, Pacific Rim Championships, and winning a World Cup medal on floor at Zibo. Moors was an important part of the Canadian team that earned its Olympic qualification at the Test Event, and she was a part of team that finished fifth in London. Following the Olympics, Victoria seemed to be an up-swing in the sport, competing again at the American Cup and then at the World Championships. But in 2014, Victoria appeared to struggle as the year progressed, culminating in an abrupt exit from the Commonwealth Games after traveling with her team to the competition. Reports of difficulty in training followed as Moors returned to Canada, and we never saw her return to competition. She announced her retirement in 2015.
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Here is Victoria’s great beam set at the 2014 American Cup, including a full in dismount.
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<u>Honorable Mentions</u>– Eugenia Gola, Olga Chudina, Olessia Dudnik, Elodie Lussac, Ana Maria Bican, Nadyezhda Ivanova, Mattie Larson, Ariella Kaeslin
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Thanks to @sj0126, @GymnasticsRosie, @MoominWhisky, @peregrin33, @GeorgiaMaeFent, and @BritishGymnews for the Twitter conversation!
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Tell us about the gymnasts you feel retired too soon from the sport!
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<strong>Article by: Kristen Ras</strong>
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<strong>Photo cover: Brigid McCarthy</strong>
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<strong>Follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheCouchGymnastNewsPage?ref=hl">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/TheCouchGymnast">Twitter</a></strong>
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<p>
</p>
<p>
Other articles from the series:
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/08/04/the-list-significant-4ths/">Significant 4ths</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/07/21/the-list-best-of-event-finals/">Best of Event Finals</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/06/30/the-list-sweet-silver/">Sweet Silver</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/06/12/the-list-when-you-cry-i-cry/">When you Cry, I Cry</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2014/08/17/the-list-the-contenders/">The Contenders</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/01/11/the-list-namesakes/">Namesakes</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/02/04/the-list-to-watch-again-and-again/">To watch again and again</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/02/27/the-list-best-of-american-cup/">Best of American Cup</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/03/20/the-list-greatest-team-competitions-part-1/">Favorite team competitions (part 1)</a>
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<p>
<a href="http://www.thecouchgymnast.com/2015/05/05/the-list-once-at-worlds/">Once at Worlds</a>
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