The Loss of Ana Porgras

The Couch Gymnast

As I rewatched the 2010 Team Final, I watched the beauty that was Ana Porgras.  Ana Porgras, the subject that makes most gym fans cry, the sole Romanian bar worker, the gymnast that brought beauty back to gymnastics.  Ana Porgras, the gymnast that retired four months before London.  Like many gym fans, Ana's retirement came as a surprise to me, as a gymnast so talented and filled with potential; retiring four months before the Olympic Games.   Porgras was struggling with an injury and had a hard time adjusting to the coaching style of Bellu and Bitang and called it quits after Romania failed to earn a medal at the 2011 World Championships.  After her retirement, many fans and experts questioned how well Romania would do in London.  Romania bounced back decently from their unfortunate Worlds in 2011, bringing a Team Bronze, Vault Gold and Floor Silver.  I decided to use Ana's scores from the three World Championships she attended in 2009, 2010, and 2011 to see how Anna would've affected Romania's success.

Team Final
I'm only using scores from past Team Finals here.
Vault
Larisa Iordache- 14.8
Catalina Ponor- 15.1
Sandra Izbasa- 15.1
Total- 45.00

Uneven Bars
Diana Chelaru- 13.633
Larisa Iordache- 13.766
Diana Bulimar- 14.066
Ana Porgras- 14.466
Original Total- 41.465
New Total- 42.298

Longines

Beam
Diana Bulimar- 14.533
Larisa Iordache- 15.3
Catalina Ponor- 15.416
Ana Porgras- 15.3
Original Total- 45.249
New Total- 46.016







Floor
Diana Bulimar- 14.7
Catalina Ponor- 14.8
Sandra Izbasa- 15.2
Original Total- 44.7

Original Team Total- 176.414
New Team Total- 178.014
Total Difference- 1.6

Ana Porgras' presence in London last summer would've made a huge difference in Romania's team total, however would not have changed the color of Romania's medal.  With the addition of Ana Porgras, Romania could've moved within 6 tenths of Russia however.  Porgras' biggest addition would've been on bars, where she took home a share of a bronze medal in 2009.  Porgras could've potentially added .833 to the bars score due to one routine alone.  Bars have been Romania's weak spot for several years, and would've used Porgras' routines for sure in the Team Final.  While Porgras makes a slightly smaller splash in Romania's Beam rotation, her beam routine alone would boost Romania's total Beam score by .767.  By going to London for two routines, she could've boosted Romania's score by over a point and a half!  Ana Porgras was not only missed by fans in London.