Sandra Raluca Izbasa (born June 18, 1990 in
Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian artistic gymnast.
A member of the CSS Steaua Bucharest club, Izbasa
began gymnastics in 1994. She has been part of the
Romanian national gymnastics team since 2002, and
has enjoyed considerable success in major
international competitions, particularly on the
floor exercise and vault.
At the 2004 European Championships, Izbasa placed
sixth in the all-around and won a silver medal on
the floor exercise in the junior division. She
continued to do well in 2005, winning two gold
medals, on floor and vault, at the prestigious Japan
Junior International meet.
In 2006, as a new senior, Izbasa won the all-around,
floor and vault titles at the Romanian International
Championships. She followed up her domestic success
with a strong senior international debut at the
World Cup final in Lyon, France, placing third on
the balance beam and second on floor. At the 2006
European Championships in Volos, Greece, Izbasa was
a member of the Romanian team which won the silver
medal. In the same competition, she won the title on
floor and placed third on balance beam.
In 2006, Izbasa made the Romanian team for the 2006
World Gymnastics Championships. Romania came 4th in
the Team Competition, being beaten to the bronze
medal by the Russian team. In the all-around
competition, Sandra was one of the few gymnasts to
stay on her feet. This earned her a bronze medal
behind Jana Bieger and Vanessa Ferrari. She finished
a disappointing 8th in the vault final, but managed
to pick up a silver on the beam, and a fifth place
finish in the floor final. She could have earned at
least a bronze in the floor final had she not
stepped out of bounds on her complicated initial
tumbling pass.
Sandra has continued with her packed competition
schedule in 2007, attending several world cup
competitions. She took the silver medal in the
all-around at the European Championships, behind
Vanessa Ferrari once again. There was also a silver
on beam behind Yulia Lozcheko.
