“I Regret Being Romanian”
Former World, European and Olympic Champion, Lavinia Milosovici, is extremely unhappy about the latest Youth & Sports Ministry proposal to change the way they hand out life annuities.
YSM officials want to change the sports laws, specifically the articles dealing with life annuities, so that former Olympic Champions can only start receiving them after they turn 30. The proposal was met with a wave of disapproval from the athletes who haven’t reached the required age yet.. The ones who will be most affected by the new law are former or current member of the national gymnastics team. Lavinia Milosovici lives off her coaching salary which isn’t more the 1.7 million lei/month ($55). “Obviously, I’m not happy with this situation. We quit gymnastics by the time we’re 20, at the latest, unlike other sports, where careers can end when you’re as old as 35. I have to pay rent and other bills with the money I earn. My husband makes around 4 million lei/month ($130). With a combined income of 5 million lei, it’s fairly hard to make ends meet,” explained Lavinia. Her list of complaints did not end here. “I’m sorry to say, but from a financial standpoint, I’m regret being Romanian.”
Lavinia received many job offers, especially from the US and Germany. A lot of clubs asked her to work for them. The most tempting offer came from an American club. “I could have signed a contract, offering me $3,000/month, and paid room and board. I said no, because I hoped to have a better life [than what I do] here. Now, it’s too late to take that step, especially since I have a family and it would be hard to leave the loved ones behind.”
For now, Lavinia and the other gymnasts who are in a similar situation did not think about sending a letter of complaint to the Youth and Sports Ministry, or the ROC. “Even if we took that option, our opinion will not matter, just like it never did. No one ever listens to the gymnasts,” complained Lavinia. Assistant coach Mariana Bitang also weighed in. “I think -talking specifically about gymnastics- these life annuities should be handed out based on every gymnasts’ individual worth. It’s one thing to have a gymnast win one gold medal with the team and then retire, knowing she has a life annuity waiting for her, and it’s a completely different matter when you win 20 or 30 medals, knowing you are carrying Romanian gymnastics on your back. I believe stars like Lavinia Milosovici, Simona Amînar, Gina Gogean, Andreea Răducan, should be protected and they should keep getting their life annuities.”
Andreea Răducan, was much more reserved in her comments about the situation. “Whoever proposed the change probably has a very good idea what it is they’re doing. But I think we [gymnasts] are losing out in this decision. “
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