BUCHAREST, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Romanian triple Olympic champion Catalina Ponor said Friday she would rejoin with her former coach Mariana Bitang to train for this year's world championships and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

    Ponor explained that Matei Stanei, who has been coaching her from January, has health problems and that the switch to Bitang will improve her chances of winning the Olympic gold in China.

    "I feel determined and ready to support any effort to accomplish my new Olympic dream," Ponor said.

    The 20-year-old, who won gold in the team event and individual beam and floor exercises in Athens, did not compete in the European championships in Amsterdam last month due to illness.

    "Ponor is the best ever Romanian athlete on the balance beam so the Olympics in Beijing will probably be a new triumph for her," Bitang said.

    The world championships is slated for Sept 1-9 in Stuttgart, Germany.