Larisa is member of the Romanian national team and a 2012 Olympian. As a first-year senior, she has demanded much attention in 2012, leading the Romanian women to the European title, while also placing first on floor exercise and second on beam. She was third all around at the American Cup in Madison Square Garden.
Her score of 15.95 on balance beam is the highest of any gymnast in 2012, and her routine contains difficult elements such as a backspring to full twist and triple twist dismount. Her difficulty scores on beam (6.8) and floor (6.4) are among the highest in the world.
By London, she hopes to have mastered the Amanar vault, which will boost her D-score on vault from 5.8 to 6.5, making her a serious contender for the Olympic all-around title. Though uneven bars is her weakest event, she is the best of the current Romanian gymnasts on the apparatus.
As a junior gymnast, she competed at the 2010 Junior Europeans and won the floor exercise, took a silver medal on beam and with the team, a bronze in the all around, and placed fourth on vault. In 2011, she won six medals at the European Youth Olympic Festival.
As a team, Romania has improved in 2012, after winning zero medals at the 2011 World Championships. Iordache will be relied on heavily in London, and should be a major contender for multiple gold medals.
