Annaliese Dragan

Annaliese Dragan (born September 15, 2005) is a Romanian-American rhythmic gymnast.^[2] Along with teammate Andreea Verdes, she was the first Romanian gymnast in 26 years to qualify for the apparatus finals at the World Championships in 2022. She competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the rhythmic individual all-around.

Personal life

Dragan trains at her mother's gym in Irvine, California and has also lived and trained in Romania since she was 13.^[3][4][5] Her younger sister Christina Dragan is also a rhythmic gymnast.^[3]

Gymnastics career

Junior

Dragan was named to the USA Gymnastics National Team of 2018-2019.^[6]

In 2019, she changed nationality and began competing for the Romanian Federation.^[7] Her first international competition for Romania was the 2020 European Championships in Kyiv, Ukraine. She was 9th in the all-around and qualified for the rope, clubs and ribbon finals.^[8]

Senior

Dragan competed with clubs and ribbon at the 2021 Pesaro World Cup. She also competed at the World Challenge Cup in Cluj-Napoca, where she placed 8th in the hoop final. In June she was part of the team that competed at the European Championship in Varna, Bulgaria with teammates Andreea Verdes and Denisa Mailat.^[9] Later in the year, she was also selected for the World Championship in Kitakyushu, Japan, where she ended in 22nd place in the all-around qualification and failed to advance to the final.

In 2022, Dragan became Romania's second gymnast and inaugurated her season with the World Cup in Palaio Faliro, where she qualified for the hoop and clubs final. She then competed at the World Cup stage in Sofia. She was again selected again for the 2022 European Championship in Tel Aviv, Israel, together with Verdes for the senior team and Amalia Lică and Dragan's sister Christina for the junior team. She placed 20th in the all-around final.

In September, she competed at the 2022 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. She placed 12th in the all-around qualifications and qualified to the final, where she ended in 18th place because of mistakes with clubs. Dragan qualified to three apparatus finals, placing 8th in ball, 7th in clubs and 6th in ribbon.^[10]

At the World Championships in 2023, she competed with pain in her left ankle, an issue that had been bothering her for several years. She qualified for the all-around final in 17th place. This earned Romania a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games, the first since Ana Luiza Filiorianu in 2016.^[11][12] Dragan described seeing her scores as "the best moment of my life".^[3] She later returned to the United States to receive surgery and rehabilitation for her ankle.^[13]

In 2024, Dragan competed at the World Cup stage in Sofia, where she finished in 21st in the all-around. At the 2024 European Championships, she qualified for the all-around final and came in 21st place.^[14]

In August, Dragan competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She finished in 21st place in the individual all-around qualifications, with her best performance coming on clubs, and did not advance to the final. Of her experience, she said, "It was very stressful and exhausting, but I felt good and I really enjoyed the experience very much."^[15] She later stated that she was not accompanied by her main coach, Alexandra Piscupescu, only her assistant coach, and that she did not feel she had enough support.^[16]

In October, Dragan's father accused the president of the Romanian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, Irina Deleanu, of abusing Dragan, her sister, and several other gymnasts through verbal abuse, comments about her weight, and over-training on injuries. He also said that Dragan often competed without her coach due to a lack of support from the federation, and that when Deleanu accompanied Dragan to the 2024 European Championships as her coach, she violated competition rules.^[13][17] Deleanu denied these accusations and said that Dragan's mother had been the one to make the comments about her weight, and that Dragan had pre-existing medical and congenital issues that she had been cleared to train on by doctors.^[18] Following this dispute, Dragan was removed from the Romanian national team and returned to the United States to continue training.^[19]

Dragan posted on her Instagram on January 8, 2025 that she was taking a break from rhythmic gymnastics, which she said was because "over the past Olympic cycle—and especially in the last two years—I found myself in a toxic environment that became increasingly difficult to navigate". She added that she hoped to return to gymnastics and attempt to qualify for the 2028 Summer Olympics.^[20] In January 2025, several Romanian rhythmic gymnasts came forward with allegations of abuse against coaches, including Dragan. She repeated her allegations of verbal abuse and said that she had been afraid of training.^[21]

In April 2026, after Deleanu said in an interview that Dragan wanted to retire after the 2024 Olympics, Dragan stated that her intention after the Olympics was to continue training for the 2028 Summer Olympics and that she never told Deleanu that she wanted to quit.^[16]

Routine music information

See also

• Nationality changes in gymnastics

References

1. ^ "Annaliese Dragan FIG profile". FIG
2. ^ "DRAGAN Annaliese - FIG Athlete Profile". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
3. ^ Berg, Tom (2024-05-07). "Irvine gymnast bound for Summer Olympics". www.irvinestandard.com. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
4. ^ Hațieganu, Alexandru (27 October 2023). "Annaliese Drăgan, dezvăluire plină de durere. Sacrificiul pe care îl face zi de zi românca născută în California" [Annaliese Drăgan, a painful disclosure. The sacrifice that the Romanian born in California makes every day] (in Romanian). Sport.ro. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
5. ^ Fleşeru, Roxana (25 August 2023). "Gimnasta de ritmică Annaliese Drăgan a devenit a șaptea componentă a delegației României pentru Jocurile Olimpice de la Paris" [Rhythmic gymnast Annaliese Drăgan became the seventh member of the Romanian delegation for the Olympic Games in Paris] (in Romanian). GSP. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
6. ^ "Past Rhythmic Junior National Teams". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
7. ^ "Official News from the Executive Committee meeting in Lausanne". FIG. July 11, 2019.
8. ^ "Gimnastică ritmică: Anneliese Drăgan, calificată în trei finale la Europenele de junioare de la Kiev" (in Romanian). November 27, 2020.
9. ^ "PARTICIPANTS – 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships". Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
10. ^ "Annaliese Drăgan, pe locul 18 în finala individuală de la Campionatele Mondiale de Gimnastică Ritmică" (in Romanian). September 17, 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
11. ^ "2023 World Championships Result Book" (PDF). gym.longinestiming.com
12. ^ Roman, Comitetul Olimpic si Sportiv (2018). "Annaliese Drăgan, vis împlinit - s-a calificat la Jocurile Olimpice". www.cosr.ro. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
13. ^ Nazare, Daniel (2024-10-10). "Irina Deleanu, atac din partea unui părinte după ce ar fi abuzat verbal și psihic mai multe gimnaste de lot național, inclusiv pe Annaliese Drăgan, care a fost prezentă la JO Paris 2024!" [Irina Deleanu, attack from a parent after she verbally and mentally abused several national team gymnasts, including Annaliese Dragan, who was present at the Paris 2024 Olympics!] (in Romanian). Prosport. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
14. ^ "Annaliese Drăgan, locul 21 la individual compus la Europene" [Annaliese Drăgan, 21st place in individual all-around at the European Championships] (in Romanian). agerpres.ro. 25 May 2024.
15. ^ Dinu, Remus (8 August 2024). "Annaliese Drăgan, debut de neuitat la Jocurile Olimpice, la gimnastică ritmică » Notele primite în cele patru rotații: "N-am mai simțit așa ceva"" [Annaliese Drăgan's unforgettable debut at the Olympic Games in rhythmic gymnastics - scores received for the four routines: "I have not felt anything like this"] (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
16. ^ Cristian, Munteanu (2026-04-08). "„Complet fals!” O gimnastă dezminte afirmațiile făcute despre ea de președinta FRGR, Irina Deleanu" ["Completely false!" A gymnast denies the claims made about her by FRGR president, Irina Deleanu] (in Romanian). GOLAZO.ro. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
17. ^ Nazare, Daniel (2024-10-11). "Irina Deleanu, acuzată că a distrus trei sportive de top din gimnastică ritmică! Și-au încheiat prematur cariera și învinuiesc comportamentul șefei de federație: "Sănătatea trebuia să fie prioritizată"" [Irina Deleanu, accused of destroying three top sports in rhythmic gymnastics! They ended their careers prematurely and blame the behavior of the federation chief: “Health had to be prioritized.”] (in Romanian). Prosport. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
18. ^ Nazare, Daniel (2024-10-10). "rina Deleanu, reacție după scandalul din gimnastica ritmică dezvăluit de ProSport! "E fix invers: mama ei îmi trimitea mesaje în care spunea să-i zic că arată ca o vacă". Ce mesaj a avut fosta sportivă pentru Annaliese Drăgan înainte de startul Paris 2024" [Irina Deleanu, reaction after the scandal in rhythmic gymnastics revealed by ProSport! “It’s the other way around: her mother was sending me messages saying to tell her that she looks like a cow.” What message did the former athlete have for Annaliese Dragane before the start of Paris 2024] (in Romanian). Prosport. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
19. ^ Nazare, Daniel (2024-12-19). "Cine a furat covorul sportivelor de la gimnastică ritmică din Sala Floreasca? Sora Annalisei Drăgan a luat locul 1 la un concurs internațional la Leverkusen" [Who stole the carpet from the rhythmic gymnasts in Sala Floreasca? Annaliese Drăgan's sister took 1st place at an international competition in Leverkusen] (in Romanian). Prosport. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
20. ^ Annaliese Dragan (8 January 2025). "After much thought and reflection on what to do, I'm reluctantly being forced to take a break from rhythmic gymnastics."
21. ^ "Abuse in Romanian Rhythmic Gymnastics". Romanian Association for the Defense of Athletes’ Rights – United Europe. 2025-01-15. Retrieved 2025-01-15.

External links

• Annaliese Dragan on Instagram