BUCHAREST, Dec 12: Triple Olympic champion Catalina Ponor has decided to retire for health reasons, a Romanian Gymnastics Federation (FRG) official said on Wednesday.

“Ponor has failed to overcome her back problems, so she has decided to put an end to her activity as an athlete,” FRG president Adrian Stoica told reporters on Wednesday.

Now 20, she led Romania to the team title at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and also won individual gold medals in the balance beam and floor exercises. She also won five European championship gold medals from 2004-06.—Reuters