Oana Ban
Encyclopedia
Oana Mihaela Ban is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She is an Olympic gold medalist with the team and a world silver medalist on beam and with the team. Her best events were the floor and the balance beam.
and Mariana Bitang at the elite training facility in Deva. Success in major international junior meets soon followed, including a first-place finish at the Top Gym tournament in Belgium
in 1999 and a bronze medal at the 2001 European Youth Olympic Days.
by a mere eleven days. She was forced to wait until 2002 to make her international senior debut. At the 2002 World Championships
in Debrecen
, Ban won a silver medal on the balance beam, one of Romania's only victories of the competition and placed fourth on the floor finals. Later that year she placed second all around at the prestigious Chunichi Cup (behind team mate Oana Petrovschi
) and won the Massilia Cup. In 2003, Ban had a similarly strong showing, contributing to the Romanian team's silver medal at the 2003 World Championships
and placing sixth in the all-around final. That year she successfully competed in several international competitions winning the silver medal all around at the Gander Memorial behind Cătălina Ponor
and the bronze medal all around at the 2003 Chunichi cup behind Andreea Munteanu
and Svetlana Khorkina
. She also won silver on beam at the 2003 Cottbus Cup and the 2003 DTB Cup and won the Swiss cup together with Marian Drăgulescu
.
in Athens
, where she, along with teammates Monica Roşu
, Alexandra Eremia
, Cătălina Ponor
, Daniela Şofronie and Silvia Stroescu
, won the gold medal in the team competition. Ban contributed heavily to the Romanian victory, competing on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor in the team finals. Individually, she qualified for both the all-around and the floor exercise final. She also placed fifth in the qualifications for the balance beam final but she could not compete due to the two per country rule. Unfortunately, an injury sustained on her last event in the team competition forced her to sit out both competitions and essentially ended her Olympic experience. For Ban, the situation was unfortunate: she had qualified to the all-around in an impressive third place; her qualifying floor score would have been good enough for fifth place. She was replaced in the floor final by Daniela Şofronie who won the silver medal.
in Japan. She made it past the First Stage of the competition, but failed on the Floating Bridge of Stage 2.
Early career
Oana Ban started to train for gymnastics in her hometown at "Viitorul" Gymnastics Club with coaches Rodica Câmpean and Anton Ciupe. Ban quickly rose to prominence as one of Romania's top junior world-class gymnasts. She competed in her first Romanian national championships in 1998, winning the floor exercise event in the junior division. The following year, she was invited to join the Romanian national team, and began working with coaches Octavian BeluOctavian Belu
Octavian Ioan Atanase Bellu is the current head of the Romanian national women's artistic gymnastics team. He was the main coach with interruptions, between 1990 and 2005 and returned as head of the national team in 2010...
and Mariana Bitang at the elite training facility in Deva. Success in major international junior meets soon followed, including a first-place finish at the Top Gym tournament in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
in 1999 and a bronze medal at the 2001 European Youth Olympic Days.
2002-2003
With her early January birth date, Ban missed the eligibility cutoff for the 2001 World Championships2001 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 35th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Ghent, Belgium, in 2001 at the Flanders Sports Arena. This was the first Worlds at which the 6-3-3—six athletes per team, three compete, all three scores count—format was used in team finals...
by a mere eleven days. She was forced to wait until 2002 to make her international senior debut. At the 2002 World Championships
2002 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 36th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary, in 2002 at Főnix Hall.The team and all-around events were not contested at the 2002 Worlds. The format was similar to that of the 1992 Worlds, with medals being awarded for the individual WAG and MAG apparatus...
in Debrecen
Debrecen
Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...
, Ban won a silver medal on the balance beam, one of Romania's only victories of the competition and placed fourth on the floor finals. Later that year she placed second all around at the prestigious Chunichi Cup (behind team mate Oana Petrovschi
Oana Petrovschi
Oana Andreea Petrovschi is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She is a silver world medalist on uneven bars and a bronze European medalist on vault.-External links:*...
) and won the Massilia Cup. In 2003, Ban had a similarly strong showing, contributing to the Romanian team's silver medal at the 2003 World Championships
2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 37th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships were held in Anaheim, California, United States, in 2003.Tie-breakers were not used at this competition...
and placing sixth in the all-around final. That year she successfully competed in several international competitions winning the silver medal all around at the Gander Memorial behind Cătălina Ponor
Catalina Ponor
Cătălina Ponor is a gymnast from Constanţa, Romania. After beginning training with the national team in 2002, Ponor won several medals with the Romanian team, along with individual balance beam and floor exercise medals. Almost unknown until late 2003, Ponor has made several important...
and the bronze medal all around at the 2003 Chunichi cup behind Andreea Munteanu
Aura Andreea Munteanu
Aura Andreea Munteanu, known as Andreea Munteanu , is a retired world-class Romanian gymnast.Andreea became interested in gymnastics in 1994 after watching a competition on television. Inspired by the meet, she began using her mother's bed as a makeshift vault, prompting her parents to enroll her...
and Svetlana Khorkina
Svetlana Khorkina
Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina is a popular Russian gymnast and seven-time Olympic medalist, who is now a deputy at the Russian State Duma. With an unprecedented nine gold, eight silver, and three bronze World Championships medals, she is one of the most successful female gymnasts of her era and has...
. She also won silver on beam at the 2003 Cottbus Cup and the 2003 DTB Cup and won the Swiss cup together with Marian Drăgulescu
Marian Dragulescu
Marian Drăgulescu is a Romanian artistic gymnast. During his senior gymnastics career he has won an impressive number of 26 medals at Olympic games, World or European Championships among which eight gold medals at World Championships...
.
Athens 2004
Oana's career highlight came at the 2004 Summer Olympics2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, where she, along with teammates Monica Roşu
Monica Rosu
Monica Roşu is an artistic gymnast from Romania. During her career she won two Olympic gold medals , a silver medal with the team at world championships and two gold continental medals ....
, Alexandra Eremia
Alexandra Eremia
Alexandra Georgiana Eremia is a Romanian artistic gymnast. Her best apparatus was the balance beam on which she had an interesting routine starting with her trademark split mount. She is an Olympic and a European gold medalist with the team. Individually, she won several medals on beam in...
, Cătălina Ponor
Catalina Ponor
Cătălina Ponor is a gymnast from Constanţa, Romania. After beginning training with the national team in 2002, Ponor won several medals with the Romanian team, along with individual balance beam and floor exercise medals. Almost unknown until late 2003, Ponor has made several important...
, Daniela Şofronie and Silvia Stroescu
Silvia Stroescu
Silvia Alexandra Stroescu is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She is an Olympic, world, and European gold medalist with the team. A skill on the floor exercise is named after her; "Stroescu" is a stretched forward salto with 2½ twists.-Early life and career:She was one of the most successful junior...
, won the gold medal in the team competition. Ban contributed heavily to the Romanian victory, competing on uneven bars, balance beam, and floor in the team finals. Individually, she qualified for both the all-around and the floor exercise final. She also placed fifth in the qualifications for the balance beam final but she could not compete due to the two per country rule. Unfortunately, an injury sustained on her last event in the team competition forced her to sit out both competitions and essentially ended her Olympic experience. For Ban, the situation was unfortunate: she had qualified to the all-around in an impressive third place; her qualifying floor score would have been good enough for fifth place. She was replaced in the floor final by Daniela Şofronie who won the silver medal.
Post retirement
Ban retired from gymnastics after the Olympics; she is currently pursuing her education. She participated in the 4th televised competition of KunoichiKunoichi (TV series)
was a women's obstacle course competition held in Japan and broadcast on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It is a spin-off of Sasuke, another obstacle course series. Kunoichi is different from Sasuke in that the competitors are exclusively female.-Participants:Participants compete for a prize of 2...
in Japan. She made it past the First Stage of the competition, but failed on the Floating Bridge of Stage 2.