Iasi Gymnast Has Big Dreams

Up until now, the small Moldavian village of Bohotin has been famous for its vine. Its newest claim to fame might just come from Iustina-Nicoleta Astefanii, who is now 6 years old. The youngster has dreams of becoming a world-class gymnast someday, like Olaru, Aminar, Presecan and even Nadia. Her grandmother has been very supportive of her, especially since she is the one who takes care of Iustina when her parents are out working.

Iustina’s grandmother took her by the hand and brought her to Iasi, where she had her first gymnastics lessons under coach Constantin Radu, at the rhythmic club of CSS Conrrado. Her grandmother had bigger plans in mind, though, and their next trip took the duo to Deva, where Iustina tried out for the gymnastics team. She finished the selection ranked third in her age group, and received an invitation to train and live at Deva. That’s when a not-so-small problem surfaced. Where would the family find the 1.1 million lei/month ($40) required for room and board? Especially since Iustina’s mother, the only family member who is working barely makes more than that per month. Iustina’s grandmother didn’t get discouraged by the seemingly unsolvable problem. She had one thing in mind –helping her granddaughter become a competitive gymnast.

Iustina’s grandmother sent a letter to the Romanian Prime Mister, explaining the situation and asking for his help. This generated a chain-reaction of institutions getting involved, including the Hunedoara & Iasi counties Youth and Sports Departments, the Mayor’s office in Iasi and the gymnastics club in Deva. A group of officials from the Iasi Youth and Sports Department visited Bohotin and, later on held several meetings to figure out the best solution. In the end, they decided to have Iustina join CSS Gimconrrado, who has an artistic gymnastics section now, and she will receive funding from the Iasi YSD, until she will join the competitive team at Deva and receive a scholarship to continue her training. Iustina won’t be the only gymnast from Iasi county at Deva, as Malina Savoaia, formerly of CSS Conrrado will start 1st grade in Deva, after being placed first out of all the girls who tried out. Iasi officials are hoping this is the first step in making their county into a gymnastics powerhouse on the national level. Previously, they had tried to convince Maria Olaru to work as a coach at CSS Conrrado.

Back to Articles Page