on March 3, 1980. Her father Grigore is an engineer & her mother
Stefana works in a chemical laboratory. She had 2 brothers, an
older one named Ioan & a younger one named Catalin. Ana Maria
began gymnastics at the age of 6 in Onesti. Her favorite event was
vault & her favorite gymnasts were Oksana Fabrichnova & Gina
Gogean. In 1993 she moved to Deva with her coach Toma Ponoran
& joined the national team. Ana Maria's hobbies include reading
detective books & playing electronic games. Her favorite author is
Agatha Christie. Her favorite subject in school was math. Ana Maria
competed all over the world, & of the places she's been, the Vatican
City was her favorite. At 16 years old, she was 5'0" tall & weighed
81 pounds. She made the trip to Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics but
while training just prior to the opening day, she severly injured her
knee & had to have surgery. After returning to Romania with her
team, she retired. She was only 16 years old.
last updated: March 27, 2000