Cristina Bontaș

Cristina Bontaş (later Tăntaru, born December 5, 1973) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1987 and 1993.[3] Her best events were the floor exercise, the vault, and the all around. She is a world champion on floor, a double olympic medalist and a six-time world medalist. Bontaş scored a perfect ten on floor in the all around event of the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.[4]

Cristina Bontaş
Personal information
Country represented Romania
Born (1973-12-05) December 5, 1973
Ştefan cel Mare, Bacău, Romania[1]
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team1987–92 (ROM)
Head coach(es)Octavian Bellu[2]
Former coach(es)Dorin and Mihai Săndulescu[2]
Retired1993
Medal record
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place1992 BarcelonaTeam
Bronze medal – third place1992 BarcelonaFloor exercise
World Championships
Gold medal – first place1991 IndianapolisFloor exercise
Silver medal – second place1989 StuttgartTeam
Silver medal – second place1989 StuttgartVault
Bronze medal – third place1989 StuttgartFloor exercise
Bronze medal – third place1991 IndianapolisTeam
Bronze medal – third place1991 IndianapolisAll-around
World Cup Final
Bronze medal – third place1990 BrusselsBalance beam
European Championships
Silver medal – second place1990 AthensVault
Bronze medal – third place1989 BrusselsVault
Bronze medal – third place1989 BrusselsFloor exercise

Early life and career

She started training at the age of seven at the CSM Oneşti club under coaches Dorin and Mihai Săndulescu.[2] She had a successful junior career, medaling in various competitions. In 1987 her debut at a major international event (International Japan Junior Invitational) brought her four medals, one gold for vault and three silver for the all around, uneven bars and floor. At the 1988 Junior European Championships, Avignon, France she won bronze in the all around event and she managed a fifth place on vault and a seventh place on floor. The 1988 Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba) was another especially successful meet: she won gold for floor, bronze for balance beam and vault and finished fourth in the all around event. In spite of her successful junior career she was the second and therefore the non traveling alternate for the team at the 1988 Olympics.[5]

Senior career

1989–1990

Bontaş' debut as a senior in an international event was at the 1989 Romanian Internationals where she medaled silver for all around, uneven bars and floor and bronze for vault. 1989 was the start of a series of medals for floor and vault in international events. Bontaş was the surprise top Romanian gymnast at the 1989 World Championships, finishing in fourth place in the all around event ahead of the great Daniela Silivaş and just behind the trio of Soviet medalists (Boginskaya, Laschenova and Strazheva).[6] In the all around event she scored a perfect 10 for the floor exercise.[4] She won bronze on floor and tied for silver on vault with Brandy Johnson.[7] Bontaş also contributed to the team's silver medal by achieving the third highest average score on her team.[8] In 1990 she won silver medal on vault at the European Championships in Athens, Greece and placed seventh in the floor and uneven bars events.[9]

1991

At the 1991 World Championships in Indianapolis, United States Bontaş tied for gold for floor with Oksana Chusovitina.[10][11] Her performance on the floor exercise based on a musical background of well-known American songs (e.g., "The Star-Spangled Banner" (USA anthem), "Oh Susanna", "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again", "Yankee Doodle" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas") energized the crowds.[12] She also won the bronze medal on the all-around event, contributed heavily to the team bronze with the highest average score on her team[11][13] and placed fourth on vault, seventh on uneven bars and eight on balance beam.[14]

1992 Olympic Games

Together with Lavinia Miloşovici, Gina Gogean, Mirela Paşca, Vanda Hădărean, and Maria Neculiţă, Bontaş was a team member of the Romanian team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. In the team finals she had once again the highest contributing score of all her colleagues, highlighted by an average 9.95 on the floor exercise.[15] She qualified first in the floor finals, third all around and fifth in the balance beam finals.[16] She won silver with the team, tied for the bronze medal on floor exercise with Tatiana Gutsu and Shannon Miller, and placed fourth in the all-around and beam finals.[1][17]

Post retirement

Bontaş retired after the 1992 Olympic games. She first coached in Romania and did some TV commentaries for gymnastics events. Later, she coached in Italy and in Wales. When the contract in Wales was up, Bontaş immigrated to Canada to coach at Hamilton's Mountain Star Gymnastics. She went back to Romania in 1998 to marry, returning to Canada without husband Gabi Tăntaru while they waited for immigration papers. After several months, her husband was able to join her in Canada, he too coaching at Hamilton Mountain Gym Elites (formerly Mountain Star Gymnastics). The couple have a daughter named Elissa, also a gymnast, born April 1999 and a son Eric, born in April 2002.[3]

In September 2003, Bontaş and her husband opened their own gymnastics club in Hamilton, World Class Gymnastics.[18] Here Bontaş was training her pupils for the 2012 Olympic Games. Bontas also recently started an aerobic gymnastics program at her gym which has produced many national team members. .[19]

Competitive history
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
1986 Cottbus International1st place, gold medalist(s)
Senior
1987 Blume Memorial5
International Junior Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Kosice International1st place, gold medalist(s)42nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)5
1988 Balkan Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Catania Cup3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Champions All1st place, gold medalist(s)
Junior European Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)7
Junior Friendship Tournament (Druzhba)2nd place, silver medalist(s)43rd place, bronze medalist(s)83rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
1989 Chunichi Cup3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
CSSR-ROM Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Brussels European Championships93rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
French International3rd place, bronze medalist(s)544
International Championships of Romania2nd place, silver medalist(s)
ROM-CSSR Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Rome Grand Prix1st place, gold medalist(s)
Tokyo Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)7
Stuttgart World Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)42nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
1990 Blume Memorial11
DTB Cup43rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Athens European Championships72nd place, silver medalist(s)77
French International19
GBR-ROM Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
HUN-ROM Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
International Championships of Romania2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Romanian National Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
ROM-TCH Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Brussels World Cup Final6773rd place, bronze medalist(s)7
1991 BEL-FRA-ROM-URS Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)
Chunichi Cup3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
DTB Cup42nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Dutch Open41st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Romanian National Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
ROM-GER Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
ROM-ITA Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Tokyo Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
USA-ROM Dual Meet7
Indianapolis World Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)4781st place, gold medalist(s)
1992 Chunichi Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)61st place, gold medalist(s)
FRA-ROM Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
HUN-ROM Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Romanian National Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)443rd place, bronze medalist(s)
ROM-GER Dual Meet1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Tokyo Cup1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Barcelona Olympic Games2nd place, silver medalist(s)443rd place, bronze medalist(s)

[20]

References
  1. Cristina Bontaş. sports-reference.com
  2. Cristina Bontas. Romanian Olympic Committee
  3. "Gymnastics Greats: Cristina Bontas" Archived November 11, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1989 World Championships Women's AA. gymn-forum.net
  5. "Gymnastic Greats: The Alternate" Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Romanian gymnasts profiles". Romanian-gymnastics.com (1973-12-05). Retrieved on 2016-10-06.
  7. Gymn Forum 1989 World Championships Women's EF
  8. Gymn Forum 1989 World Championships Women's Team Final
  9. Gymn Forum 1990 European Championships Women's EF
  10. Gymnstands World Championships by event Archived June 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. "1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships"
  12. "The New York Times" Gymnastics; Star-spangled Romanian, Michael Janofsky, April 7, 1991
  13. Gymn Forum Results 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Team Final
  14. Gymn Forum Results 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Events Final
  15. Gymn Forum 1992 Olympic Games, Team Final
  16. Sports References Gymnastics at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games: Women's Individual All-Around Qualifying
  17. 1992 Olympic Games Archived 2008-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. Gymnastics results
  18. Our gym Archived 2008-03-22 at the Wayback Machine. Worldclassgymnastics.ca. Retrieved on 2016-10-06.
  19. "The Hamilton Spectator" Tumbling to the top: Romanian Olympic medallist shares her talents with local gymnasts by Raveena Aulakh, August 2007
  20. "Cristina Bontas (ROM)". Gymn Forum. 25 August 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
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