It goes with out saying that gymnastics followers adore the athletes who compete on the highest degree within the sport. In any given decade girls’s gymnastics produces simply 100+ gymnasts who rise to the standing of a “fan favourite.” Gymnastics followers not solely observe the profession of those gymnasts with nice curiosity, however preserve tabs on them at the same time as they embark on the following chapter of their lives.
With so many fan favorites within the sport, it’s anticipated that in any given yr we are going to see a lot of weddings and engagement bulletins. However in 2022 the pattern feels slightly completely different. So many fan favorites have both gotten engaged or celebrated their marriage ceremony day prior to now few months that it’s laborious to maintain observe of all of them. In simply the final week alone Catalina Ponor, Viktoria Komova, and Aleksandra Shchekoldina all celebrated their weddings.
Viktoria Komova’s marriage ceremony photograph:
Aleksandra Shchekoldina’s marriage ceremony photograph:
Within the case of Catalina Ponor’s marriage ceremony, it was an occasion loaded with the presence of Romanian gymnastics royalty. Among the many company, Andreea Raducan, Corina Ungureanu, Daniela Silivas and Monica Rosu who all have a number of gold medals to their identify. There was additionally Romania’s well-known teaching duo, Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang who had been current as effectively.
Catalina Ponor’s marriage ceremony additionally produced this photograph of Andreea Raducan that was too cute to not share.
Silivas used Catalina’s marriage ceremony as a chance to recreate a historic photograph.
As for the bride and groom:
There was additionally an engagement announcement in late Might from Sydney Johnson-Scharpf:
In late April Russian gymnast Seda Tutkhalyan obtained engaged:
Earlier within the yr gymnastics noticed engagement bulletins from not one, however two Olympic All-Round Champions. The primary was 2016 Olympic Champion Simone Biles.
The second was 1992 Olympic Champion Tatiana Gutsu:
To cite Tatiana: “It’s an attractive emotions to be in love and being liked.”
It must also be famous that each Gutsu and Ponor had been members of the 2022 Corridor of Fame class. Gutsu introduced her engagement roughly ten days after it was formally introduced she was being elevated to the Corridor of Fame. In the meantime Ponor’s marriage ceremony got here simply two weeks after her official Corridor of Fame induction ceremony.
In January Camelia Voinea celebrated her marriage ceremony. She is greatest identified for being an Olympic medalist from the 1988 Olympics and a member of the long-lasting 1987 Romanian gold medal successful World Championships crew.
However Camelia Voinea has extra just lately been making gymnastics headlines as a consequence of her daughter, Sabrina Voinea who’s a extremely famend junior that can be eligible to compete as a senior in 2023. That is additionally an enormous occasion in Sabrina’s life as effectively and the three of them make an amazing household.
Lastly, and that is a part of a throwback to an article I wrote six months in the past, however Diana Varinska and Milad Karimi obtained engaged in December of 2021. They haven’t celebrated their marriage ceremony but with the Russian invasion of Ukraine possible placing these plans on maintain. I simply needed to acknowledge this specific instance as a result of they’re two gymnasts who’ve needed to cope with a struggle placing their aspirations on maintain.
