Maria Holbură

Maria Holbură
Full nameMaria Larisa Holbură
Born (2000-09-16) 16 September 2000 (age 24)
Constanța, Romania
Height152 cm (5 ft 0 in)[1]
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented Romania
Years on national team2014–21 (ROU)
ClubCS Farul Constanța
Head coach(es)Lăcrămioara Filip, Cristian Moldovan
Former coach(es)Mirela Szemerjai
Retired10 August 2021[2]

Maria Larisa Holbură (born 16 September 2000) is a former Romanian artistic gymnast. She represented Romania at the 2020 Summer Olympics and at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships.

Personal life

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Maria Holbură was born on 16 September 2000 in Constanța.[1] Her father, Ioan Holbură, is a former wrestler.[3] She began gymnastics at the age of five after a coach, Sorin Bechir, held a gymnastics audition in her kindergarten class.[4] She left her home at age twelve to train in Deva.[5] Holbură spends her free time painting.[6] On painting, she stated, "I like it very much, sometimes I come upset from training because I didn't get anything, but when I get to the room I start painting and I pass. It relaxes me extraordinarily."[6]

Junior career

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Holbură made her international debut at the 2014 International Gymnix in Montreal where she finished nineteenth in the all-around and fifth on the floor exercise.[7] She then competed at the 2014 Coupe Avenir in Malmedy, Belgium, where Romania placed first ahead of Belgium and Canada, and Holbură placed fourth in the all-around and on vault.[8] She competed at the 2015 Elite Gym Massilia in Marseille, France, where she finished thirteenth in the all-around with a score of 54.200.[9]

Senior career

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2016

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Holbură's first year of being age-eligible for senior international competitions was 2016. She made her senior international debut at the Belgium Friendly where Romania finished second behind Belgium, and Holbură placed tenth in the all-around.[10] She was selected to compete at the Olympic Test Event alongside Diana Bulimar, Anamaria Ocolișan, Cătălina Ponor, Dora Vulcan, and Silvia Zarzu. She contributed on three apparatuses, and she scored a 12.866 on the uneven bars, a 13.533 on the balance beam, and a 13.541 on the floor exercise.[11] However, the team finished seventh and did not qualify for the Olympic Games.[12] She then competed at the Encuentro Internacional, which was a competition between Spain and Romania. She won the gold medal on the balance beam and placed third in the all-around with a total score of 54.600.[13]

Holbură then competed with Anda Butuc, Ocolișan, Ponor, and Zarzu at the European Championships. In the qualifying round, she competed on three events and scored a 13.333 on the uneven bars, a 13.700 on the balance beam, and a 13.633 on the floor exercise.[14] In the qualification round, Romania placed fourth, and they went on to finish sixth in the team final.[15] At the Romanian Championships, she won the bronze medal on the uneven bars on the floor exercise.[16] Her final competition of the season was the Gymnasiade in Trabzon, Turkey, and she won the silver medal on the floor exercise with a score of 13.733.[17]

2017

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Holbură competed at the World Cup in Osijek where she finished eighth on uneven bars.[18] She competed at the Gym Festival Trnava which was held from 3–4 June in Trnava, Slovakia, and she placed sixth in the all-around.[19] She then competed at the Romanian Championships where she won the bronze medal on the uneven bars and placed fifth in the all-around.[20] Her final competition of the year was the World Cup in Szombathely where she finished fourth on balance beam.[21]

2018

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Holbură began her 2018 season at the World Cup in Doha, but she did not advance to any of the event finals.[4] She then went to the City of Jesolo Trophy where she finished twenth-ninth in the all-around.[22] Then at the World Cup in Osijek, she placed fifth on the balance beam and sixth on the floor exercise.[23] At the Romanian Championships, she placed sixth in the all-around and won the silver medal on the uneven bars and the bronze medal on the floor exercise.[24] She was then selected to compete at the World Championships along with Ioana Crișan, Denisa Golgotă, Nica Ivanus, and Carmen Ghiciuc where they finished thirteenth and qualified as a team to the 2019 World Championships.[25]

2019

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Holbură competed at the World Cup in Osijek where she finished fifth on the floor exercise.[4] Holbură said that she considered retiring in 2019 due to ongoing injuries and health problems, but she ultimately decided to stay to help team Romania at the World Championships in their quest to qualify as a team for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[5] She competed at the World Championships with Ioana Crișan, Carmen Ghiciuc, and Denisa Golgotă where they finished twenty-second in the qualification round.[26] This is the lowest the Romanian women have ever placed as a team at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and they did not qualify as a team for the Olympics.[27] However, Holbură qualified an individual spot for the Olympics.[3][28] She noted that because she had decided to retire after the World Championships, she felt less pressure which led to her having a better competition.[28] Holbură stated after their performance, "I didn't know if it was true... Everyone told me that I was the only one qualified for the Olympics and only I could go there. I called my mother and she started to cry, [but] I was also very sorry that [the team did not qualify]."[5]

After the World Championships, Holbură had surgery in Vienna for tendon pain in her foot that had been ongoing since 2017.[5][4]

2020

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Holbură competed at the Romanian Championships where she finished ninth in the all-around. On the next day of the competition for event finals, Holbură only competed on the uneven bars and balance beam and withdrew on the other events due to ankle pain.[29] Although Holbură was initially named to Romania's team for the European Championships,[30] she was later removed in favor of Daniela Trică.[31]

2021

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Holbură was initially named as an alternate for the European Championships. However, when Silviana Sfiringu and Ioana Stănciulescu both withdrew due to injuries, they were replaced by Maria Ceplinschi, and Holbură was not added to the team because she was "insufficiently prepared".[32] After the European Championships, Holbură switched coaches to train with Lăcrămioara Filip and Cristian Moldovan alongside Larisa Iordache in Bucharest as they both prepared for the Olympic Games.[33] Holbură and Iordache both competed at the Cairo World Challenge Cup, and Holbură was the reserve for both the balance beam and floor exercise event finals.[34]

At the Olympic Games, Holbură finished sixty-fifth in the all-around during the qualification round with a total score of 49.166.[35] On 10 August, she announced her retirement from gymnastics on her Instagram account.[2]

Competitive history

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Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2014 International Gymnix 19 5
Coupe Avenir 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 4
2015 Élite Gym Massilia 13
Senior
2016 Belgium Friendly 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 10
Olympic Test Event 7
Encuentro Internacional 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Championships 6
Romanian Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
France-Romania Friendly 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7
Gymnasiade 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2017 Osijek World Cup 8
Gym Festival Trnava 6 5 5
Romanian Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7
Szombathely World Cup 4
2018 City of Jesolo Trophy 29
Deva Friendly 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6
Osijek World Cup 5 6
Izvorani Friendly 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Varsenare Friendly 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Romanian Championships 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
World Championships 13
2019 Osijek World Cup 5
FIT Challenge 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Romanian Championships 8 5 6
World Championships 22
2020 Romanian Championships 9 5 5
2021 Cairo World Challenge Cup R1 R2
FIT Challenge 8
Olympic Games 65

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Maria Holbură". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b @mariaholbura (August 10, 2021). "Multe nu am de spus" – via Instagram.
  3. ^ a b "Gimnasta Maria Holbura, al 49-lea membru al Echipei Romaniei care va participa la Jocurile Olimpice de la Tokyo, din 2020". Romanian Olympic Committee (in Romanian). 7 October 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "HOLBURA Maria". FIG. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "Maria a renunţat la copilărie şi a plecat de la 12 ani de acasă. În 2021 va reprezenta România la Jocurile Olimpice de la Tokyo". DigiSport (in Romanian). 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Artista care a plecat de acasă la 12 ani și va reprezenta România la Olimpiadă: "Pictura mă relaxează extraordinar"". DigiSport (in Romanian). 22 February 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  7. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (9 March 2014). "2014 International Gymnix Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (26 November 2014). "Romania and Canada Split Gold Medals at Coupe Avenir". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  9. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (20 November 2015). "2015 Elite Gym Massilia Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  10. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (3 April 2016). "2016 Belgium Friendly Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Rio Test Events. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  12. ^ Lupu, Victor (18 April 2016). "Gymnastics: Romania Women's And Men's Teams Fail To Qualify To Rio Olympics". Romania Journal. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  13. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (7 May 2016). "2016 Encuentro Internacional Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  14. ^ "31st European Championships in Women's Artistic Gymnastics Seniors and Juniors Senior Qualifications" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. UEG. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  15. ^ "31st European Championships in Women's Artistic Gymnastics Seniors and Juniors Senior Team Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. UEG. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  16. ^ Hopkins, Lauren. "2016 Romanian Championships". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  17. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (18 July 2016). "2016 Gymnasiade Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Osijek 2017 uneven bars" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Gym - Festival 2017 All-Around Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 3 June 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  20. ^ "2017 Romanian Nationals: Event Finals". The Couch Gymnast. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Results for FIG World Challenge Cup 2017, SZOMBATHELY 2017 (HUN)". FIG. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  22. ^ "City of Jesolo Trophy". FloGymnastics. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  23. ^ "FIG World Challenge Cup Osijek (CRO) 2018 May 24-27". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  24. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (13 October 2018). "2018 Romanian Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  25. ^ "48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha (QAT), 25 October - 3 November 2018 Women's Team Qualification" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. FIG. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  26. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (17 October 2019). "2019 World Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  27. ^ "Maria Holbură goes to JO Tokyo!". Vaaju. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  28. ^ a b Giuclea, Andreea (12 January 2020). "Povestea Mariei Holbură și a drumului ei neobișnuit spre Tokyo. Sau cum îți poți împlini visul exact când nu te mai aștepți". Lead (in Romanian). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  29. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (21 November 2021). "2020 Romanian Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  30. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (7 December 2020). "Iordache Added to Euros Team After Triumphant Comeback". The Gymternet. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  31. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (15 December 2020). "Can COVID Put Romania Back On Top?". The Gymternet. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  32. ^ "Verificările au decis gimnaștii pentru Europene!". Federația Română de Gimnastică (in Romanian). 5 May 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  33. ^ "Maria Holbură, încă o șansă!". Federația Română de Gimnastică (in Romanian). 13 April 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  34. ^ "Larisa Iordache, prima în calificări la Cupa Mondială". Federația Română de Gimnastică (in Romanian). 4 May 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  35. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Qualification" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Olympic Committee. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
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