Listening to music. (huffingtonpost.it, 24 Jul 2017)

Athlete

English, Italian

ASU Udinese [Udine, ITA]

Emanuela Maccarani [national], ITA; Spela Dragas [personal], ITA; Magda Pigano [personal] (federginnastica.it, 09 Apr 2018; federginnastica.it, 13 Apr 2018)

She sustained a knee injury in 2018 that interrupted her training. (gymnastics.sport, 13 Sep 2018)

She began the sport at age six. (huffingtonpost.it, 24 Jul 2017)

"When I was six years old, I went to a doctor for a problem with my spine and I was encouraged to practice some sports to correct it. My mother enrolled me in a rhythmic gymnastics course, I did not really think about it, and from the first day I fell in love with this discipline." (huffingtonpost.it, 24 Jul 2017)

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (huffingtonpost.it, 24 Jul 2017)

She trains six hours a day, six days a week. (udinetoday.it, 14 Apr 2017)

Winning bronze at the 2018 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. (gymnastics.sport, 13 Sep 2018)

"Never give up." (Instagram profile, 31 Jul 2017)

She was presented with the Prize for Elegance at the 2017 World Championships in Pesaro, Italy. She is the first Italian rhythmic gymnast to be awarded the prize. (fig-gymnastics.com, 02 Sep 2017)

General
FROM ROMANIA TO ITALY
She was a member of the Romanian national setup until age 10 when she switched nationality from Romania to Italy. Her family had already moved to Italy, with her remaining in Romania with her grandparents. "My father moved to Italy when I was only three years old and my mother and my brothers reached Treviso, and I stayed with my grandparents in Romania. I did not know whether to stay with the Romanian national team or pack my bags. In the end, the desire to re-embrace my family was stronger than anything and so I came." She gained Italian citizenship in 2015. (huffingtonpost.it, 24 Jul 2017; gazzetta.it, 07 May 2017)

INFLUENTIAL FIGURE
Her Italian coach Spela Dragas recognised her talent from a young age and encouraged her to make the switch from Romania to Italy. "I met with Spela Dragas, international judge and my current coach, who I had already met during a competition in Estonia. We met again during a summer internship in Udine and from that moment she has strongly wanted me in Italy." Following her move to Italy she lived with Dragas for a time in Udine, while her parents were living in Treviso. "Dragas has become like a second mother for me, she taught me everything, even to conjugate verbs in Italian. Professionally, it's only thanks to her that I've achieved these levels." (huffingtonpost.it, 24 Jul 2017)

Last update : 2018-09-17