New Kids on the Block: Romania

Romania continues to have a big problem with lack of depth. Bellu, Bitang and Comaneci have all stated it. It will of course give Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar plenty of opportunities to shine and to anchor future teams, as well as to give more chances to seniors that missed out- Raluca Haidu, Amelia Racea and Daniela Andrei. Not only is there is a lack of depth- some Juniors have retired already. Nevertheless, there ARE talented Juniors coming up through the ranks.


Madalina Blendea (reminds me of Maria Olaru)

Madalina is my favourite Romanian junior. In typical fashion, she shows a lot of promise on beam and also on floor, where she has a lovely elegant style. Not only that but she can swing bars! Hold the front page! Some issues on bars probably relating to height but nothing disastrous and she has a lot of time to hone them- she will not turn senior until 2015. She could easily be in the mould of Iordache, strong bars, beam and floor AND she has excellent form on vault already. Exciting stuff.

Obviously weak on difficulty but she's really good at basics (dead hang aside).

Great style here with some very nice tumbling, can only improve.

Needs more confidence and attack on her skills, but this has all the makings of a fabulous routine in the future.

Lovely flight and form..and like the rest, she will not need an amanar to compete due to its devaluing



Andreea Munteanu (reminds me of Lavinia Milosovici)

 Andreea is a very strong all-arounder, placing third in AA at Euros this year.  Unsurprisingly, she is especially fabulous on beam, just needs more difficulty. Lovely and precise on floor, another strong point. Bars have quite a few issues but the swing is good and improvement looks possible. Vault isn't bad at all, decent power. Hopefully sharing the name of a former fabulous Romanian gymnast will be a good omen for her. Andreea turns senior in 2014.

 Stunning, excellent work

Lots of potential here too

Looks to have a good DTY in her



Silvia Zarzu (Reminds me of Oana Ban)

Is using Irish music as a base in her floor, instant brownie points. Floor seems to be her pet piece, amazing first pass! This sparky little powerhouse is a really good vaulter too, and very comfortable on beam. Cannot find a single shred of evidence of her on bars, so maybe she does not do them? Or is just very bad at them. Anyway, certainly one to watch. Silvia turns senior in 2014.

Ahhh, love. Very reminiscent of Oana Ban's energy and sparkle on floor. First pass is particularly special but I love how her choreography is so upbeat and in keeping with the music.

Will probably be overshadowed on this piece, but she works very well here. Needs to work on toepoint. Nice determination after her fall to end strongly.

Awesome! Great potential here too



Laura Jurca (reminds me of Diana Bulimar)

Laura is another tiny powerhouse, who will not turn senior until 2015. Shows nice potential on bars- beautiful crisp form and very springy on floor, where she is exciting to watch. Needs more confidence on beam, but her floatiness is a delight. Vault is nice and powerful, so no real weak points here. More confidence and gradual increase of difficulty- plenty of time for her to shine.

Fluke mistake, but lots of promise here especially as she has excellent form already

Exquisite first pass! Nice balance of power and elegance, in one so young (age 12 here)

Always has issues with the aerial cartwheel and confidence in general is a bit lacking, so room for improvement definitely but she has oodles of potential here also, and such lightness in her work.

Great power and form


Other juniors to watch: Stefanie Stanila, Andreea Iridon, Adela Florea
Next up: China's future stars