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her third comeback, Gigi had a small interview with her. Ponor who
will be 28 years old soon. She talks about her comeback, negative comments
on social media and the risk of failure.
Gigi: Why did you decide to make a comeback?
Catalina: First, I want to make a third
Olympics, which will be the first time for a
Romanian gymnast to do so, because why
not , I like to challenge myself.
Second, I want to help the Romanian team in
Rio and to try to help the girls to qualify for
2016 and third I actually miss gymnastics
and the competitions.
Gigi: How is training so far?
Catalina: I haven't started training yet. I have just came back
from Peurto Rico and I am now busy with some stuff ,but
soon I will get back in the gym and start training.
Gigi: Are you going to comeback on three apparatuses
"vault, beam and floor"?
Catalina: I want to be able to help Romania on those three
events and i will do my best for that. I want to be healthy and
not to pressure myself. I will take things step by step.
Gigi: Do you think you are going to be ready in time for
the 2015 Worlds?
Catalina: I can't tell, if i will be ready for worlds. I don't
want to say yes I will be ready then find myself not ready to
compete by the time of Worlds, so we will see.
And like I said I will take my comeback step by step. I won't
be putting pressure on myself nor I will be pushing my body
cause i have to keep in mind that i don't have the body of a
sixteen year old.
Gigi: What do you want to achieve in your third
comeback?
Catalina: I have always expected from myself to do
everything and to do it perfectly and to achieve the best but
we will see. Right now, I want to try to make this comeback
because I don't want to have any regrets.
I have 6 months till my first official competition to see if i can
still keep up with the new rules and with the other gymnasts
who are very young.
Gigi: You have said in interviews and on social media that
there are people who do not believe in your comeback, are
they people close to you or just comments on social media?
Catalina: Last time when I came back, there were negative
comments and of course there always will be negative and
positive comments, which is the case this time.
Of course the negative comments are not from friends or
family. They have always supported me in everything.
I just want to let everybody knows that I'm not coming back
because i don't want to let the new seniors to make the
Olympic team, or take there places. I came back because i
want to because i love this sport and because i want to help
the team .I hope Romanian fans will understand that nobody
in the team have already a place there ,nobody will make the
team just because they are Ponor or Izbasa.
The team will be made up of the best gymnasts in Romania, if
the little ones are better the us then they will make the team. I
hope to see, when i get there, competitive teammates who will
fight for a place on the Olympic team and make the best team.
Gigi: You seem to be so in love with gymnastics, do you
regret retiring after the London Olympics?
Catalina: No, I don't regret retiring after London. On the
contrary, it was good for my body. I regret nothing, I'm a
complete gymnast, I have achieved everything I wanted in
gymnastics and if my comeback was unsuccessful, I will not
have any regrets. I will quit gymnastics with my chin up
because nobody can take my medals which are already in
history and will always be there.
Gigi: Are you afraid of failure?
Catalina: When you are a top elite athlete, you always risk
failure. It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there. But
I like to be challenged and I will risk maybe the biggest
failure in my career ,but i will work hard and i will try to not
let this happen.
Interview by Gigi Farid.
Edited by FavGymnastics
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