Living out the American Dream
For Daniela Silivas, recently inducted into the Hall of Fame, coming to the US was a challenge. She was still in Deva in 1991, when a Romanian family who’s been living in Georgia for a long time asked her to come and coach in the States.
Picture used courtesy of Mai Loon
”It really was a great opportunity. I accepted the offer right away and I ended up coaching in Atlanta,” recalls Daniela. When she first came to the US, she had a hard time with the English language. “I only knew a couple of words. I got a lot of help from everyone who was here. They understood [my situation] and helped me,” she added. Nowadays, Dana as her friends call her coaches over 150 girls in an Atlanta gym. Even though the youngsters come to the gym mostly for recreation, their parents are proud that their coach is one of the former gymnastics greats. Shortly after settling down in Atlanta, local officials named Daniela Silivas an honorary citizen of the state of Georgia. “Unfortunately, no one noticed me in Deva” said the former champion, with a touch of regret.
No “rosy” beginnings
Things weren’t always peachy fine for Daniela. The former champion had to go through some tough times, and she got through them only thanks to her remarkable determination. Used to working hard, she didn’t even refuse to work as a baby sitter. “I accepted the offer of one family, the Schofields, to take care of Tyler, a kid full of energy, as my time permits. At first, I told them I didn’t want to get too involved, because I work with kids on a daily basis. Then, I accepted. Ever since, he only wants to stay with me,” says the former champion. Daniela worked hard, and the American dream is now a reality for her.
Memories…
Following the natural course of events, we couldn’t skip her gymnastics career. Asked to talk about her life at Deva, she told us.” It might seem weird, but I don’t have any friends in Deva. Even though I was born there. My friends were and still are my teammates from the national team with whom I shared the good and the bad. Even today, I’m often in touch with Aurelia Dobre and Eugenia Golea, both of whom live here in the US." As far as the things published by the Romanian press are concerned, dealing with the strict training regime at Deva, Daniela cannot help but smile. “If it so happened we would get the occasional spanking from the coaches, we wouldn’t turn in into a tragedy. The correction was like our parents’ [discipline],” concluded Daniela, who incidentally is one of the gymnasts who had her age faked.
Coming to Romania for summer break
Daniela plans to come back for a short holiday in Romania at the end of July. “I miss the sea. I haven’t been to the beach in Romania since around 1990. I asked my fiancé’s sister to find some tickets.” No matter how far away from home she is, she says she keeps in touch with her mother by phone calls. “I speak Romanian fairly often. Especially on week-ends, when several Romanian people get together at church.” She likes to spend her week-ends biking, dancing or listening to Romanian music.
A legend in the making
Daniela Silivas is the fourth gymnast from Romania to be inducted into the International Hall of fame, after Nadia Comăneci, Ecaterina Szabo and Theodora Ungureanu.
Every year, International Gymnast’s editor, Paul Ziert alongside Nadia Comăneci and Bart Conner, organizes the greatest show dedicated to former gymnastics stars, the Hall of Fame [induction] held in Oklahoma City. In keeping with tradition, six gymnasts were chosen in 2002 to have their names added in the pantheon of gymnastics. Alongside Ukraine’s Polina Astakhova, Hungary’s Agnes Keleti , France’s Berthe Villancher (inducted posthumously), Japan’s Keiko Ikeda and Ukraine’s Boris Sakhalin, former Romanian stand-out Daniela Silivas was also nominated.
Currently living in the United States, in Atlanta, Daniela is the fourth gymnast from Romania to be inducted into the Hal of Fame, after Nadia Comăneci, Ecaterina Szabo and Theodora Ungureanu.
$300 Paintings
The ceremony was held over the weekend in the luxurious Renaissance Hotel located in downtown Oklahoma City. Daniela wore a light-colored long dress to the ceremony with matching sandals, while Nadia had a long black dress on. (Visit International Gymnast’s website to see a picture of Daniela at the ceremony). Besides paintings of the six gymnasts who were set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, nine paintings of Nadia were on display in the same hall. The paintings were the work of British artist Michael Bowes. "Nadia in the Universe", "Nadia descends from the Universe" and "Ice princess" are just some of the titles of the truly remarkable works of art. The starting price of one of these paintings is $300.
Bart was always cracking jokes
Bart Conner proved to be an excellent MC during the awards ceremony, constantly cracking jokes. When he got to Daniela Silivas’ name, he said “Daniela Silivas, also from Romania! I seem to know someone else from this country,” much to the crowd’s delight, who clapped enthusiastically. Nadia Comăneci herself handed Daniela her trophy. “I’m very emotional. I started gymnastics after watching Nadia on television. She was and always will be my role model. I want to dedicate this trophy to everyone who’s been and will remain by my side” said Daniela. Besides the trophy, she also received a gold pendant, symbolizing a gymnast, just like all he other inductees. The pendant was done on special order by a jeweler, who only gets such requests from Nadia.
The road to the Hall of Fame
In order to be inducted into the International Hall of Fame, several requirements must be met. Bart Conner, who is one of the leaders of the organization explained. “Every year, we have several nominees. The athlete must have retired at least ten years ago, and won a couple of gold medals at Worlds or the Olympics. Finally, after long talks, we are left with five or six names to be included in the hall of Fame,”
Coming all the way from Malaysia
Mai Loon Goh’s name immediately makes you think about Asia. The Malaysian-born woman came across several thousand kilometers, just to be next to Nadia Comăneci. She also brought 20 pieces of artwork from Penang to join the charity arts auction set up to help reiase funds for Romanian orphanages. A government worker for the Malaysian tourism department, Mai Loon dedicated a poem to Nadia, entitled The perfect Love for the World, which she handed to her personally. (The poem was actually written last year, and handed to Nadia along with a traditional Chinese painting).
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