Sabrina Voinea Explained

Sabrina Voinea
Fullname:Sabrina Maneca-Voinea
Birth Date:4 June 2007
Birth Place:Constanța, Romania
Discipline:WAG
Level:Senior International Elite
Natlteam:2017–present (ROU)
Headcoach:Camelia Voinea
Show-Medals:yes

Sabrina Maneca-Voinea[1] [2] (born 4 June 2007) is a Romanian artistic gymnast. She represented Romania at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Voinea was born in Constanța in 2007.[3] Her mother, Camelia Voinea, is a former artistic gymnast who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal with the Romanian team.[4] When Sabrina was young, Camelia brought her to the gym where she worked as a coach, and Sabrina became interested in gymnastics herself. Sabrina is coached by her mother.[5]

Junior career

Voinea started competing for the Romanian national team in 2017. In April 2022, she competed at the Junior City of Jesolo Trophy. She helped Romania finish fourth in the team competition. She also won the bronze medal on vault and finished seventh on floor. In July, Voinea competed at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival. She helped Romania win the gold medal. In the individual events, she finished 12th in the all-around, fourth on vault, and fifth on floor. In August, Voinea competed at the Junior European Championships. She helped Romania win the bronze medal in the team competition. She also finished fourth in the all-around, won the gold medal on vault, and won the bronze medal on floor.[6]

Senior career

2023

Voinea became age-eligible for senior-level competition in 2023. In March she competed at the Doha World Cup where she won gold on balance beam and floor exercise.[7] The following month she competed at the 2023 European Championships. She helped Romania finish fifth in the team competition. She also finished fourth on vault and won the bronze medal on floor exercise.[8]

In October Voinea competed at the 2023 World Championships alongside Ana Bărbosu, Lilia Cosman, Amalia Ghigoarta, and Andreea Preda. During qualifications they finished tenth. Although they did not qualify for the team final, they qualified a team to the 2024 Olympic Games, a feat last achieved in 2012.[9] Individually Voinea qualified to the floor exercise final where she finished fourth.

2024

Voinea competed at the 2024 European Championships where she helped Romania finish fourth. Individually she won silver medals on balance beam and floor exercise, behind Manila Esposito on both.[10]

At the 2024 Olympic Games Voinea helped Romania finish seventh in the team competition. Individually she qualified to the balance beam and floor exercise event finals. During the balance beam final she fell off the apparatus twice and finished eighth.[11] During the floor exercise final Voinea scored a 13.700 and initially finished in fourth place after losing an execution score tie-breaker with compatriot Ana Bărbosu. However, American Jordan Chiles submitted an inquiry on her score, initially a 13.666, which was accepted and raised her score by a tenth to 13.766. As a result Chiles was initially awarded the bronze medal, with Bărbosu in fourth, and Voinea in fifth.[12]

Controversy surrounding scores for the individual floor event

During the NBC primetime replay of the event final, it showed that Voinea did not go out of bounds despite receiving a neutral deduction of 0.1 for going out of bounds. If the deduction was not taken, Voinea would have scored 13.800, which would have put her in the bronze medal position even after Chiles's score was increased.[13] The Romanian Gymnastics Federation appealed this deduction simultaneously while appealing that Chiles' inquiry was submitted after the 1 minute deadline to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).[14] Voinea's appeal was rejected as her coach did not submit an inquiry about the neutral deduction during the event final.[15]

Bărbosu's appeal, however, was accepted as the CAS found that Chiles' inquiry was submitted four seconds past the one minute deadline. Therefore the FIG reinstated the original standings, which led to Bărbosu placing third, Voinea placing fourth, and Chiles placing fifth.[16] The International Olympic Committee upheld the findings from the CAS.[17]

Competitive history

align=center Yearalign=center EventTeamAAVTUBBBFX
Junior
2021 align=left Romanian Championships 13
align=left Tournoi International 21
2022 align=left 4 7
align=left Romanian Junior Championships
align=left 12 4 5
align=left 4
align=left Turnoi International 4
align=left Romanian Junior Championships 5 4
Senior
2023 align=left 5
align=left ESP-ROU-SWE Friendly
align=left 5 4
align=left RomGym Trophy4 6
align=left Romanian Championships8
align=left Heidelberg Friendly 13
align=left 10 R34
2024
align=left 4 4
align=left Olympic Games 7 8 4

Notes and References

  1. News: Gimnastele constănțene, pe podium la turneul internațional din Franța. Sabrina Maneca Voinea, patru medalii (GALERIE FOTO) . 17 November 2022 . ZIUA de Constanta . 15 November 2022 . ro.
  2. News: Germany's Kevric, Italian team take junior golds at European Championships . 17 November 2022 . International Gymnast Magazine Online . 13 August 2022.
  3. https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=79916 "Maneca-Voinea Sabrina"
  4. News: Six countries golden in apparatus finals at European Championships . 17 November 2022 . International Gymnast Magazine Online . 14 August 2022.
  5. Bregman, Scott. "Romanian gymnast Sabrina Voinea dreams matching, surpassing her mum's accomplishments". olympics.com. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  6. News: Romania's junior gymnasts won six medals in the 2022 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships . 17 November 2022 . Romania Insider . 16 August 2022 . en.
  7. Web site: 2023 Doha World Cup results. The Gymternet. March 5, 2023.
  8. Web site: 2023 European Championships results. The Gymternet. April 17, 2023.
  9. Web site: A New Beginning – Romania clinches Olympic team berth for first time since 2012. October 2, 2023. Inside Gymnastics Magazine.
  10. Web site: Devillard, D'Amato And Esposito Win European Apparatus Titles In Rimini. May 4, 2024. International Olympic Committee.
  11. Web site: Brown . Luke . Heartbreak for Sabrina Voinea . NYT-The Athletic . The New York Times . 8 August 2024.
  12. Web site: Wood . Becca . Romanian Olympic officials appeal gymnast's score after controversial floor routine ruling . Today . Today.com . 8 August 2024.
  13. Web site: Romanian leader to skip closing ceremony after gymnastics dispute. NBC. 6 August 2024.
  14. Web site: Wood . Becca . Romanian Olympic officials appeal gymnast's score after controversial floor routine ruling . Today . Today.com . 8 August 2024.
  15. Web site: August 10, 2024 . Sabrina Voinea's appeal was rejected . nineoclock.ro.
  16. Dierberger . Tom . 2024-08-11 . IOC Orders Jordan Chiles to Give Back Bronze Medal, Awards It to Ana Barbosu . 2024-08-11 . . en-US.
  17. Web site: Jordan Chiles has to give back her bronze medal because appeal was 4 seconds too late, IOC says. 11 August 2024. NBC.