Simona Pop née Deac (born 25 December 1988) is a retired Romanian

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contain ...

fencer, bronze medallist at the 2015 European Championships, team silver medallist in the

2015 World Fencing Championships The 2015 World Fencing Championships were held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia from 13 to 19 July 2015. Schedule The schedule of the competition. Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events References External links ...

and team European champion in 2014 and 2015.

Personal life

Pop was born in

Satu Mare Satu Mare (; hu, Szatmárnémeti ; german: Sathmar; yi, סאטמאר or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in t ...

to a Hungarian father and Romanian mother. Pop took up fencing at CS Satu Mare, one of the main fencing centres in Romania, under the coaching of Francisc Csiszar who went on to train her for twelve years. She obtained her '' bacalaureat'', majoring in mathematics and computer science, at the Mihai Eminescu National College. She studies accounting and information management at the Vasile Goldiș Western University of

Arad Arad or ARAD may refer to: People * Arad (given name) * Arad (surname) Places and jurisdictions Bahrain * Arad, Bahrain, a village in Al Muharraq Governorate * Arad Fort, located on Arad shore * Arad Island, a former member of the Bahrain Islan ...

. In 2012, she married

Adrian Pop Adrian Pop (born 13 February 1968) is a Romanian épée fencer. He competed in the individual and team épée events at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Career Pop took up fencing at CSS Satu Mare when he was seven years old to follow the steps of a ...

, a member of Romania's national men's épée team.

Career

Pop earned a silver medal at the 2008 Junior World Championships in

Acireale Acireale (; scn, Jaciriali, locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. ...

, then at the

2009 Summer Universiade The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Provi ...

in Belgrade. She was briefly selected into the national team during the injury of team captain

Ana Maria Brânză Ana Maria Popescu, formerly known as Ana Maria Brânză (, born 26 November 1984), is a Romanian left-handed épée fencer. Popescu is a four-time team European champion, 2013 individual European champion, and two-time team world champion. A ...

, then served as reserve upon Brânză's return. She became Romania's number 2 in the reshuffling that followed the 2012 Summer Olympics and the retirement of

Simona Gherman Simona Gherman (née Alexandru; born 12 April 1985) is a retired Romanian épée fencer, European champion in 2012 and 2016. She was twice team World Champion in 2010 and 2011 and five-time team European Champion in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014 and ...

Anca Măroiu Anca Măroiu (née Băcioiu, born 5 August 1983) is a Romanian épée fencer. She is double team world champion, in 2010 and 2011, silver medallist at the 2012 European Fencing Championships and three-time European team champion (2006, 2009 and ...

, and Loredana Dinu. She also transferred to

CSA Steaua București Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua București, commonly known as CSA Steaua București () or simply Steaua, is a major multi-sports club based in Bucharest and run by the Ministry of National Defence. It is one of the most successful clubs in Roman ...

, of which national team colleagues Brânză and Maria Udrea are also members. Romania v Italy 2014 European Championships EFS-EQ t122627

In the 2012–13 season Pop received a bronze team medal in the Saint-Maur World Cup, then a silver medal in the European Champion Clubs' Cup with CSA Steaua. She ranked 16th in the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

, but won a silver medal in the team event. She made it to the semi-finals in the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...

, but was defeated by China's Sun Yiwen and took a bronze medal. At the 2013 World Championships in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, she went past European silver medal

Francesca Quondamcarlo Francesca Quondamcarlo (; born 21 August 1984) is an Italian épée fencer. She won a gold medal with Italy in the 2009 World Fencing Championships and a silver medal in the 2013 European Fencing Championships The 2013 European Fencing Championsh ...

, but was stopped in the table of 32 by

Courtney Hurley Courtney Hurley (born September 30, 1990) is an American fencer. She won a bronze medal in the women's team épée alongside Maya Lawrence, Susie Scanlan, and Kelley Hurley at the 2012 Summer Olympics. A standout at the University of Notre ...

of the United States. In the team event, Romania was defeated in semi-finals by Russia, and competed against France in the match for the third place. Entering her last leg on a 21–24 score for France, Pop equalised 25-25 against Auriane Mallo, allowing team captain Ana Brânză to win the match. Pop finished the season No.26 in World rankings, a career best as of 2014. In the 2013–14 season Pop took a gold team medal at the Doha World Cup. At the

she ceded in the first round to France's Joséphine Jacques-André-Coquin, who eventually won a bronze medal. In the team event, Romania easily prevailed over Ukraine, Pop being the main points contributor to the match. They had a tighter victory against Italy in the semi-final. In the final they met No.1 seed Russia. Pop was the first Romanian to win her bout against the Russians, allowing Brânză to equalize, then Gherman to close the match on a Romania victory. At the

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, ...

in Kazan, Pop was defeated by Auriane Mallo in the preliminary table of 64. In the team event Romania was stopped in the quarter-finals by Italy and finished 5th after the placement rounds. The 2014–15 season saw the return to competition in early 2015 of Anca Măroiu and Loredana Dinu. Pop kept however her place as Romanian No.3 thanks to a solid team performance, especially at the Buenos Aires World Cup where she posted a +14 total in the semi-finals against Russia and defeated

Tatiana Logunova Tatiana Yuryevna Logunova (russian: Татьяна Юрьевна Логунова, born 3 July 1980 in Moscow) is a Russian épée fencer. She won two gold medals in the team épée event at the 2000 and 2004 2004 was designated as an ...

8–0 in the eighth relay. In May she won her first national championship after defeating teammate

. In early June she reached the semifinals at the 2015 European Championships, where she lost to reigning world champion

Rossella Fiamingo Rossella Fiamingo (born 14 July 1991) is an Italian left-handed épée fencer and two-time individual world champion. A three-time Olympian, Fiamingo is a 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist and 2016 individual Olympic silver medalist. She is en ...

, and came away with a bronze medal. Pop competed for Romania at the 2016 Summer Olympics in both the individual and team events. In the women's épée individual event, she was defeated by Leonora Mackinnon of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in the first round. The Romanian team won gold in the women's épée team event. Pop was the flag bearer for Romania during the closing ceremony.

References

External links

Profile
at the European Fencing Confederation {{DEFAULTSORT:Pop, Simona 1988 births Living people Romanian épée fencers Romanian female fencers Romanian sportspeople of Hungarian descent Sportspeople from Satu Mare Fencers at the 2015 European Games European Games medalists in fencing European Games gold medalists for Romania Olympic fencers of Romania Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in fencing Universiade silver medalists for Romania Universiade bronze medalists for Romania Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade