Irina Deleanu (born 12 November 1975) is a Romanian individual

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, fle ...

. She is currently the president of the Romanian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation.

Career

In the 1992

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, she won the bronze medal in rope. She retired from the sport in 1993. An annual rhythmic gymnastics competition held in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

is named after her, ''The Irina Deleanu Cup''.

Suspension

The

FIG The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

initiated disciplinary proceedings against Irina Deleanu on 12 March 2012 at the request of the Cyprus Gymnastics Federation damaging the reputation of Cypriot gymnast Chrystalleni Trikomiti, following comments that she made during a television interview with regard to the judging at the Rhythmic Gymnastics qualifying event for London 2012, which took place in January 2012. Deleanu was suspended of her membership of the Technical Committee of the European Gymnastics Union from the date of the said decision until 31 December 2016. The length of the suspension was later reduced until the end of December 2015.

Abuse allegations

In October 2024, the father of two Romanian rhythmic gymnasts, Annaliese Dragan and Christina Dragan, accused Deleanu of verbal abusing and forcing to train on injuries his daughters as well as several other Romanian gymnasts. She denied the allegations and said that Annaliese Dragan had pre-existing medical conditions that doctors had cleared her to continue training with. Following this, both sisters were removed from the national team. In January and February 2025, several other gymnasts came forward with allegations of abuse from Deleanu and other coaches, including Denisa Mailat and national champions Alexandra Piscupescu and

Ana Luiza Filiorianu Ana Luiza Filiorianu (born July 10, 1999) is a Romanian individual rhythmic gymnast. She is the six-time (2011–14 and 2016–17) Romanian National all-around champion. Personal life Filiorianu started competitive gymnastics in 2006 at 7 year ...

. The gymnasts alleged that they experienced repeated mental and physical abuse, there was an atmosphere of fear in training, and that they and other gymnasts were verbally abused, thrown around and beaten, and forced to repeatedly perform elements as a punishment. Irina Lalciu said that she quit gymnastics due to the abusive treatment she received.

References

External links

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Federatia Romana de Gimnastica Ritmica
1975 births Living people Romanian rhythmic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for Romania Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships Place of birth missing (living people) {{Romania-rhythmic-gymnastics-bio-stub Romanian gymnastics coaches