Izabela Daniela Lăcătuş (born 2 October 1976 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 ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) is a retired

artistic Art is a diverse range of culture, cultural activity centered around works of art, ''works'' utilizing Creativity, creative or imagination, imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an express ...

and

aerobic gymnast Aerobic gymnastics or sport aerobics is a competitive sport originating from traditional aerobics in which complex, high-intensity movement patterns and elements of varying difficulty are performed to music. Nature of the game The performance ...

.Gymnastics Greats
Whatever happened with Izabela Lacatus? She was an alternate to the artistic gymnastics team at the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

.Gymnastics Greats
The Alternates After retiring from artistic gymnastics she had a career in aerobic gymnastics, winning 16 world and continental medals including the 2000 individual world title.

Artistic gymnastics career

Lăcătuş started gymnastics at the CSS Triumf club in her hometown

, but later she moved to

Deva Deva may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deva, List of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition monsters, an ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monster * Deva, in the 2023 Indian film ''Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefir ...

where she trained with the national team. She progressed rapidly and in 1989 she moved up to the senior team and trained alongside Daniela Silivaş. In 1990, following the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, the gym at Deva closed and Lăcătuş went to train at the Olympic Center in Oneşti. Although still a junior according to the FIG rules, she participated in 1990 at competitions reserved for seniors as well as in junior meets. Her best results in 1990 were a 4th all around at Chunichi Cup and a 5th all around at the Avignion Junior International. By the end of 1990 the gym at Deva opened again and the national team was reinstated. Izabela missed the 1991 Romanian International due to an injury but she competed in the Junior European Championships where she placed 4th all around. Latter that year she won silver for the all around at the Cottbus Cup. In 1992 she won silver on bars at the Romanian International and earned herself a place as the second alternate to the 1992

n Olympic team. The other members of the team were

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Gina Gogean Gina Elena Gogean (born 9 September 1977) is a retired artistic gymnast from Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north ...

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and

Vanda Hădărean Vanda Maria Hădărean (born 3 May 1976 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast who competed in international events between 1990 and 1993. She is an Olympic silver medalistWikipedia Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics, ...

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Gymnastics at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Eugenia Popa Eugenia Popa (born 10 September 1973 in Bucharest, Romania) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast.Gymnastic ...

was the first alternate. In 1992 Izabela competed at several competitions but an ankle injury sidelined her for the rest of the year. She did not manage to make a full recovery and retired in 1994.

Post-1994 and aerobic gymnastics career

In 1994 she started to train for aerobic gymnastics at CSS Triumf Club with coach Maria Fumea and to coach the lower level gymnasts at the same club. She enrolled at the Sports University in Bucharest, with the hope of becoming a coach after graduation. Izabela also performed in the Aeros entertainment show.The University of Iowa news releases
Aeros combines world-class gymnasts from Romania with playful American choreographers, February 8, 2001 Among her colleagues at Aeros were

Daniela Mărănducă Daniela Mărănducă Nicolai (born 17 June 1976 in Constanţa, Romania) is a retired artistic and aerobic gymnast. During her career she won nine medals at the World and European championships (six gold, two silver and one bronze). She is curren ...

, Lacramioara Filip, Cristian Leric and Remus Nicolai.Variety
Aeros (review) by Julio Martinez, January 17, 2001 Her debut as an aerobic gymnast in an international event was at the 1st World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships in Paris, 1995.
Izabela Lacatus During her aerobic gymnastics career she competed in the individual event, mixed pairs and groups. Her partners in the mixed pair event were

Claudiu Varlam Claudiu Varlam (born 31 May 1975 in Braşov, Romania) is a retired Romanian aerobic gymnast Aerobic gymnastics or sport aerobics is a competitive sport originating from traditional aerobics in which complex, high-intensity movement patterns ...

(until 1999) and Remus Nicolai (after 1999). On the individual event she won four world championship medals (gold 2000, silver 1999, 2002 and bronze 1998) and four European championship medals (gold 2001, 2005 and silver 1999, 2003).European Union of Gymnastics
2000 World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
2001 European Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
2005 European Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
1999 World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
2002 World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
1999 European Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
2003 European Aerobic Gymnastics Championships
1998 World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships She also placed 5th on the individual event at the 2004 world championships.
2004 World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships On the mixed pairs event she won one silver and three bronze medals at world championships (2000, 1998, 2002, 2004) and three continental medals (gold 2003, silver 2001 and bronze 1999). She also placed seventh on mixed pairs at the 1997 world championships.
1997 World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships On the group event she won the continental title in 2005 and placed fourth at the 2006 world championships.
2006 World Aerobic Gymnastics Championships

Post-retirement

Lăcătuş retired after the 2006 world championships. She is currently coaching aerobic gymnastics at the CSS Triumf club in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacatus, Izabela 1976 births Living people Gymnasts from Bucharest Romanian female artistic gymnasts Romanian aerobic gymnasts Female aerobic gymnasts European champions in gymnastics World Games gold medalists for Romania World Games medalists in gymnastics World Games silver medalists for Romania World Games bronze medalists Medalists at the Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships Medalists at the 2001 World Games Medalists at the 2005 World Games