Celestina Stefania Popa-Toma (born 12 July 1970) is a retired Romanian
artistic gymnast
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...
, who competed internationally between 1985 and 1988.Gymn-Forum Celestina Popa She is an Olympic silver medalist and a world gold and silver medalist with the team. She is best known for her eponymous straddle pike jump with full turn on floor as well as for her flexibility and style.
Career
In 1984 Popa placed second at the Romanian Junior Nationals and she became a member of the national team. In 1985 she was a member of the silver medal-winning team at the 1985 World Championships. Also in 1985, she was the all around champion, vault and beam gold medalist at the International Chunichi Cup in Japan.
Together with
Aurelia Dobre
Aurelia Dobre (born 16 November 1972) is a former artistic gymnast and the 1987 world all-around champion. She is the 1987 world champion on the balance beam and the bronze medalist on the vault and floor exercise, as well, and scored five p ...
,
Camelia Voinea
Camelia Voinea (born 1 March 1970) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1984 and 1988.Eugenia Golea, Daniela Silivaș and
Ecaterina Szabo
Ecaterina Szabo (, ; born 22 January 1968) is a former Romanian Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast who won 20 Olympic, world and continental medals.
Szabo won gold medals in the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympics in three individual events ...
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
,
The Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. In 1988 she won the silver medal with the team at the Olympics and placed tenth all around in the preliminaries.
Eponymous skill
Popa has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points.
Post retirement
After retiring from competitions in 1989 she studied at a sport school in Bucharest until 1991, and in 1994 graduated from university with a degree in physical education. She hold the National Romanian Coaching Certification Level III. Popa has been coaching since 1991, and since 1994 she has been a recreational coach at Flicka Gymnastics in North Vancouver,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, Canada. She is married to fellow former Romanian gymnast Flaviu Toma, who was a longtime head coach and technical director at Flicka. In 2009, she opened her own gym "Celestina Popa Gymnastics" in
Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Maple Ridge is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the northeastern section of Greater Vancouver between the Fraser River and the Golden Ears (peaks), Golden Ears, which is a group of mountain summits which are the southernmo ...