Laura Bechdejú Coll (born 9 May 2000)[1] is a Spanish artistic gymnast. She represented Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics and at the 2018 World Championships. She is a 2019 European all-around finalist and a four-time medalist at the Spanish Championships.

Laura Bechdejú
Full nameLaura Bechdejú Coll
Country represented Spain
Born (2000-05-09) 9 May 2000 (age 24)
Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)[1]
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
Years on national team2014–2022 (ESP)
ClubSalt Gimnastic Club
Head coach(es)Lucia Guisado

Career

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Junior

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Bechdejú made her elite debut at the 2014 Spanish Cup held in Guadalajara, Spain where she placed nineteenth in the all-around and seventh with her club team.[2][3] At her next competition, the Spanish Championships, she placed ninth in the junior all-around and won the silver medal on vault.[4][5] She then made her international debut at the 2014 Elite Gym Massilia in Marseille, France where she placed thirteenth with her team and forty-ninth in the all-around.[6][7]

Bechdejú began her 2015 season at the FIT Challenge in Ghent, Belgium placing sixth with the Spanish team and twenty-fifth in the all-around.[8][9] Then at the Spanish Championships, she finished fourth in the all-around and became the junior national champion on vault.[10] Her final junior competition was the 2015 Top Gym Tournament in Charleroi, Belgium where she placed thirteenth all-around. In the event finals, she finished sixth on vault and floor exercise, eleventh on uneven bars, and fourth on balance beam.[11]

Senior

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Bechdejú became age-eligible for senior competitions in 2016. She made her senior international debut at the Cottbus World Challenge Cup but did not qualify for any event finals, and this was her only competition of the year.[12]

At the 2017 Spanish Cup, Bechdejú won team gold with her club and placed fifth in the all-around.[13] She then competed at the FIT Challenge where she placed seventeenth in the all-around and fourth in the senior and junior combined team event.[14] She won the silver medal on the uneven bars at the Spanish Championships and placed fifth all-around.[15] She ended the season at the Cottbus World Cup and placed seventh on the floor exercise.[16]

Bechdejú won the all-around gold, team, balance beam, and floor exercise silver, and vault and uneven bars bronze at the 2018 1st Spanish League.[17] She then competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart where the Spanish team finished sixth.[18] Then at the 2nd Spanish League, she won another all-around gold and her club won a second team silver.[19] She was then selected to compete at the 2018 World Championships in Doha alongside Helena Bonilla, Ana Pérez, Paula Raya, and Cintia Rodriguez, and they placed eighteenth in the qualification round.[20]

At the 2019 1st Spanish League, Bechdejú finished fifth with her club team and in the all-around.[21] She then competed at the DTB Team Challenge in Stuttgart where the Spanish team placed eighth.[22] Then at the 2nd Spanish League, she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Cintia Rodriguez and helped her club place fourth.[23] She was selected to compete at the 2019 European Championships in Szczecin and finished sixteenth in the all-around final with a total score of 50.599.[24] Then at the 3rd Spanish League, she won the all-around bronze medal behind Cintia Rodriguez and Alba Petisco.[25] At the Spanish League Finals, she won the all-around gold medal.[26] She then won another all-around bronze medal at the Spanish Championships and also won balance beam and floor exercise bronze.[27] In August, she injured the orbital cavity in her left eye and had surgery, causing her to miss the rest of the 2019 season including the World Championships.[28]

Bechdejú returned to competition in February 2020 at the 2nd Spanish League and helped her club team place fourth.[29] She did not compete again until December due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain at the Spanish Championships where she only competed on the uneven bars and finished fourth.[30]

Bechdejú competed at the 2021 FIT Challenge where she helped the Spanish team place fifth, and she finished thirteenth in the all-around with a total score of 51.666.[31] She was then selected to represent Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside Marina González, Alba Petisco and Roxana Popa.[32] The team finished twelfth in qualifications and did not reach the team final.[33]

Competitive history

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Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2014 Spanish Cup 7 19 8 26 21 20
Spanish Championships 9   10 8 10
Élite Gym Massilia 13 49
2015 FIT Challenge 6 25
Spanish Championships 4   8 8 4
Top Gym Tournament 13 6 11 4 6
Senior
2017 Spanish Cup   5
FIT Challenge 4 17
Spanish Championships 5 5   8 6
Cottbus World Cup 7
2018 1st Spanish League            
DTB Team Challenge 6
2nd Spanish League        
World Championships 18
Joaquin Blume Memorial 6
2019 1st Spanish League 5 5  
DTB Team Challenge 8 15
2nd Spanish League 4      
European Championships 16
3rd Spanish League    
Spanish League Finals        
Spanish Championships      
2020 2nd Spanish League 4    
Spanish Championships 4
2021 FIT Challenge 5 13
Olympic Games 12

References

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  1. ^ a b "Laura Bechdejú". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Copa de España y Cto España de Clubes GAF Clasificación por Equipos" [Spanish Cup and Spanish Club Championship WAG Team Ranking] (PDF). Gymnastics Results (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Copa de España y Cto España de Clubes GAF Clasificación General" [Spanish Cup and Spanish Club Championship WAG All-Around Ranking] (PDF). Gymnastics Results (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Campeonato de España Individual GAF Clasificación General" [Spanish Championship Individual WAG All-Around Ranking] (PDF). Gymnastics Results (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Campeonato de España Individual GAF Clasificación Aparatos" [Spanish Championship Individual WAG Event Rankings] (PDF). Gymnastics Results (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Palmares Open-Massilia 2014 individual" [Individual Open-Massilia 2014 winners] (PDF). Gymnastics Results (in French). Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Palmares Open-Massilia 2014 par Èquipe" [Team Open-Massilia 2014 winners] (PDF). Gymnastics Results (in French). Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  8. ^ "FIT Challenge Finals Juniors / Seniors - Team Ranking Open Competition" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  9. ^ "FIT Challenge Finals Juniors - All-Around Results" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  10. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (11 July 2015). "2015 Spanish Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  11. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (29 November 2015). "2015 Top Gym Tournament Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  12. ^ "40th Turnier der Meister World Challenge Cup 2016 Cottbus (GER) 2016 March 31 - April 4". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  13. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (3 April 2017). "2017 Spanish Cup Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  14. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (13 June 2017). "2017 FIT Challenge Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  15. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (17 July 2017). "2017 Spanish Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  16. ^ "42nd Turnier der Meister Cottbus (GER) 2017 Nov 23-26 Apparatus final women Floor" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  17. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (12 February 2018). "2018 1st Spanish League Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  18. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (16 March 2018). "2018 DTB Pokal Team Challenge Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  19. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (23 April 2018). "2018 2nd Spanish League Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  20. ^ "48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Doha (QAT), 25 October - 3 November 2018 Women's Team Qualification" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. International Gymnastics Federation. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  21. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (11 February 2019). "2019 1st Spanish League Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  22. ^ "EnBW DTB-Pokal Team Challenge 2019 Stuttgart (GER), 15 - 17 March 2019 Women's Team Qualification" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. International Gymnastics Federation. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  23. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (26 March 2019). "2019 2nd Spanish League Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  24. ^ "8th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Women Artistic Gymnastics All-Around Final Individual" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. European Gymnastics. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  25. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (30 April 2019). "2019 3rd Spanish League Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  26. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (18 June 2019). "2019 Spanish League Finals Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  27. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (13 July 2019). "2019 Spanish Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  28. ^ "Laura Bechdejú, operada con éxito de una lesión en su ojo Izquierdo" [Laura Bechdejú, successfully operated on an injury to her left eye]. Royal Spanish Gymnastics Federation (in Spanish). 29 August 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  29. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (11 February 2020). "2020 2nd Spanish League Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  30. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (8 December 2020). "2020 Spanish Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  31. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (1 July 2021). "2021 FIT Challenge Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  32. ^ "Complete list of 2020 Olympic Athletes representing Spain". Spanish Olympic Committee (in Spanish). 30 June 2021.
  33. ^ "Artistic Gymnastics - Women's Team Qualification Results" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
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