Injury-Ridden Start

At the same time as Marius Urzică and Silvia Stroescu were going into the Freiburg hospital in Germany, Andreea Răducan and Andreea Ulmeanu were checking in to St. John’s Hospital in Bucharest. Marius Urzica went to Germany, after several Romanian specialists told him his injured back could potentially lead to paralysis.

“I had an MRI on my right knee that started bothering me, after doing so many vaults,” explained Andreea. She’s worn a knee brace since the end of august last year. She even wore it when she won the three gold medal at Worlds last year. “They gave me medication to reduce the swelling and told me not to force my leg for a couple of days. But I’m so used to the pain, I don’t even feel it anymore.” As she was waiting for the train to Deva at the train station in Bucharest she added that "I think this will be my last year as a competitive gymnast. I keep telling myself that at the start of every season, but I think I've already done all that I could. It's time to make room for other [gymnasts]." Raducan was joined Andreea Ulmeanu, who came to Bucharest to receive treatment on a swollen cartilage on her right wrist “The cartilage is swollen due to all the impact force. I’ll be back next week for another infiltration.”

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