Tina Erceg (born 3 May 1988) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n former international gymnast. The senior all-around National Champion in 2004 and 2005 and the winner of several medals on the World Cup circuit, Erceg is considered to be the Croatia's most successful international gymnast. She was also the first female gymnast ever to represent independent Croatia at the Olympic Games."Erceg's Rightful Place"
John Crumlish, ''International Gymnast,'' May 2008

Early life and junior career

Erceg was born in

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(then the

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) to parents Slobodan and Anda. She began gymnastics in 1995 at

Kaštela Kaštela () is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia. The town is an agglomeration of seven individual settlements which are administered as a single municipality, with populations individually ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 residents. The town is located no ...

Gymnastics, with coach Magda Miloševic-Ilić. In 1998, she followed coach Miloševic-Ilić to a new club, GK Marjan. The following year, she placed first in the all-around in the youth division at the Croatian National Championships in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. In 2000, Erceg won gold medals on the vault, balance beam and uneven bars in the youth division of the Croatian Nationals, and earned a place on the Croatian national junior team. In 2002, Erceg competed at the junior European Championships, where she placed 12th in the all-around final.Erceg's official biography at TinaErceg.com
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Senior career

Erceg entered the senior ranks in 2003. She placed 112th in the all-around at the 2003 World Championships and did not qualify for the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, but continued training. In 2004, she placed 14th in the all-around at the European Championships. Erceg won her first major international medal at the 2005 Maribor World Cup, where she placed second on floor exercise. At the 2006 Maribor World Cup, Erceg won two additional medals, a silver on the uneven bars and a bronze on vault.Erceg's competition results at the International Gymnastics Federation
In 2007, Erceg competed in 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 ...

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, where she placed 69th in the all-around in the preliminary round of competition, earning herself an individual berth to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She also competed at the 2007

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

, placing sixth on the floor in event finals. In the spring of 2008 Erceg placed 16th in the all-around at the European Championships in

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. At the 2008 Olympics, she competed only in the team qualifying round, placing 13th on vault and 57th overall. Erceg retired from competitive gymnastics in 2012.

Post-gymnastics

After the London Olympics, Erceg obtained a M.Sc. degree in

Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

from the Faculty of Kinesiology in Split and worked as a coach in GK Marjan. After taking up

CrossFit CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trad ...

, Erceg switched to

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

and, after only several months of training, took individual gold and silver medals in the 2015 Croatian Championship.

Skills

*Uneven bars: Comaneci salto; 1 1/2 piroutte-Jaeger combination; double-front dismount. *Balance beam: 'Erceg' mount; front aerial-side flip; back handspring-layout; double twist dismount. *Floor exercise: Triple twist; double pike.

Eponymous skill

Erceg has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Erceg, Tina 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Split, Croatia Croatian female artistic gymnasts Originators of elements in artistic gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Croatia Croatian female weightlifters Competitors at the 2007 Summer Universiade