Marius Urzică

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Romania has a legendary male gymnast named Marius Urzică.  He is an undisputed master of the pommel horse (part of the reason I like him so much).  If you don't believe me, then believe this: he has a move on the pommel horse named after him.  He even has an eponymous move on parallel bars, which this routine showcases.  Does that get confusing for gymnasts?  Marius was also in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympics.  All the golds and silvers he won were on pommel horse, which should come as no surprise. 

The video below shows the 2000 Olympics pommel horse finals, which won Urzică a gold medal.  As a bonus, Nemov is included!  (I think he was robbed of a better score, but people have been arguing scores in gymnastics for decades.)  The one thing we cannot argue is that Urzică is master of that pommelled horse and though he is not flashy, he is smooth.  He was one of the reasons Romania even medaled in the 2004 Olympics and as we all know, Romanian gymnastics is in a rough spot.  Urzică might help inspire new gymnasts, even just for pommel horse.



By now you have probably noticed that I'm highlighting gymnasts who are good on the pommel horse.  I love the other apparatuses, but I often feel that this one is passed over because it's subtle and very few people are truly magnificent on it.  More pommel horse masters are on the docket.