Carolina Pascual

Pascual was doing ballet when at age seven her ballet teacher told her mother that her daughter had excellent qualities for Rhythmic Gymnastics. There was not a club in her town so, her mother drove for around an hour to get Pascual to and from training sessions at the Escuela de Competición in Murcia. Pascual later went to the Atlético Montemar in Alicante.

Pascual at the 1991 World Championships in Athens.

Pascual got her breakthrough in 1990 when Spain's head coach, Emilia Boneva, selected Pascual for the National Team. The newcomer was sent to the 1990 European Championships, where she helped the Spanish team win the bronze medal. She also placed 12th in the all-around and qualified for two event finals.

All the sacrifices that were made paid off when in 1990 Emilia Boneva selected her for the National Team. Pascual was one of Spain's most successful Rhythmic Gymnasts, and the first to get an Olympic medal. At the awards ceremony, bronze medalist Oksana Skaldina refused to acknowledge the podium results. Pascual is one of the few non eastern european rhythmic gymnasts to have successful career and medal at the Olympics.

An injured Pascual sat out at the 1992 World Championships, but came back for a bronze All-around medal at 1993 European Cup. But she struggled at the 1993 World Championships and finished 7th in All-around. Still, she would take silver with clubs behind teammate Carmen Acedo. She retired from the sport after the Alicante World Championships in 1993.

As a gymnast she stands out because of her difficult and expressive routines with great back flexibility, and inventive skills. She is now a coach, at Club IMD in Orihuela.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carolina Pascual.

• Carolina Pascual at the International Gymnastics Federation