Gymnastics: Resilient Iordache last medal hope for Romania

REUTERS: Larisa Iordache has battled injury, illness and adversity for a final chance to bring home an artistic gymnastics medal for Romania, a former gymnastics powerhouse that failed to qualify a team for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

A member of the bronze-medal winning Romanian squad at the London 2012 Games, Iordache broke a bone in her hand a month before the final 2016 Rio qualifying event and was named an Olympic alternate. That was despite having won a medal in the all-around at the previous two World Championships. The Romanian star was successful in her bid to qualify for Tokyo at the 2021 European Championships, her last opportunity. But a severe kidney infection sidelined her from finals including balance beam, where she was the top qualifier, even with a fall.Iordache’s mother passed away from long-term illness in June, though she is likely to carry the memory of her mother, who she has called her “guardian angel” on Instagram, with her to Tuesday’s final.

Romania’s gymnastics program first gained fame at the 1976 Montreal Games, where 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci became the first Olympian to earn a perfect 10, captivating the world and inspiring a generation of young gymnasts.

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