"Gal" Friday! Cătălina Ponor

Twenty-four year old Romanian gymnast Cătălina Ponor won three gold medals on balance beam, floor, and with her team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Her athletic career continued, and she usually earned medals in whatever competitions she entered, but she subsequently retired in 2007. That all changed at the beginning of 2011. In August of last year, Ponor had a minor medical procedure to correct a congenital heart defect, and returned to active competition. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, her efforts helped the Romanian team qualify for the team final, and individually she qualified for the balance beam final and the floor final. She won a bronze medal alongside her team, and a silver medal on floor exercise. Unfortunately on balance beam, Ponor had the same score as American Aly Raisman, but after tie-breaking procedures Raisman was awarded the bronze medal. As a consolation prize, based on her terrific comeback performance alone, she is inducted into the Catacombs as this weeks official “gal” Friday.