30 Facts About Roxana Popa

Roxana Daniela Popa Nedelcu was born on 2 June 1997 and is a Romanian-born Spanish artistic gymnast.

Roxana Popa moved to Madrid with her family when she was six years old.

Roxana Popa competed at the Spanish Championships in 2008, and despite winning every event, she did not receive any medals as she did not yet have her Spanish citizenship.

Roxana Popa qualified for the all-around and vault final and was a third reserve for the floor final.

Roxana Popa ended up placing sixth in the vault final and eleventh in the all-around.

Roxana Popa placed sixth in the all-around final and seventh on floor exercise.

Roxana Popa was named to the Spanish team for the World Championships at the end of summer.

Roxana Popa ended that season at the Glasgow World Cup where she finished fifth.

Roxana Popa finished sixth in the all-around at the American Cup due to mistakes on the uneven bars.

Roxana Popa was scheduled to compete at the Mexico Open and was considered the front-runner to win, but suffered a knee injury in training the morning of the competition and withdrew.

Roxana Popa returned to competition in October 2015, competing at the Novara Cup on the uneven bars.

The Spanish team finished fourth, and Roxana Popa had the third-highest score on the uneven bars behind Jessica Lopez and Larisa Iordache.

Roxana Popa was scheduled to compete at the Olympic Test Event in April 2016; however, in March she re-injured her right knee causing a meniscus rupture which prevented her from qualifying to the 2016 Olympic Games.

Roxana Popa underwent arthroscopic surgery on her meniscus, and two months later, she had another surgery on her meniscus.

Roxana Popa was told by doctors that she would not be able to compete again.

Roxana Popa only competed on the balance beam at the 1st Spanish League, helping her club finish sixth.

Roxana Popa placed third on the uneven bars at the 3rd Spanish League.

Roxana Popa competed in the all-around for the first time since 2014 at the Spanish Championships.

Roxana Popa finished fourth all-around, and she won a silver medal on the uneven bars behind Ana Perez.

Roxana Popa made her international comeback at the Szombathely Challenge Cup where she won bronze on the uneven bars.

Roxana Popa next competed at the 2nd Heerenveen Friendly where she helped Spain finish second behind the Netherlands, and individually, she placed ninth in the all-around.

Roxana Popa was scheduled to compete at the American Cup, but she withdrew and was replaced by Alba Petisco.

Roxana Popa was selected to the Spanish women's artistic gymnastics team for the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics alongside Marina Gonzalez, Alba Petisco and Laura Bechdeju.

Roxana Popa then won the all-around title at the Spanish Championships.

In November 2022, Roxana Popa returned to competition at the 1st Spanish League.

Roxana Popa only competed on the uneven bars and had the third-highest score.

Besides her native language, Romanian, Roxana Popa is fluent in Spanish and English.

Roxana Popa's idols are Romanian gymnasts Nadia Comaneci, Catalina Ponor, and Larisa Iordache.

Roxana Popa taught dance at a school in Madrid while recovering from her knee injuries.

Roxana Popa shared that during her three year hiatus from gymnastics due to knee injuries, she struggled with depression.