Stroescu Rejoins National team

Silvia Stroescu, world team champion in 2001, is set to rejoin the Senior National team, who is currently on a training camp at the beach.

After a break of over 7 months, 17-year old Silvia Stroescu will join the senior national team at the beginning of next week. The team is currently on a training camp in Constanta.
Silvia, who has been battling back problems and even came close to ending her career, went back to Freiburg, Germany for one last medical check-up. "The doctor who took care of me said I can start training, but not full-out. Everything must be done gradually,” said Silvia who is back home, in Bucharest. “At first, the doctor explained I should wait a little bit longer, but I asked him to allow me to resume training. He was afraid that if he gave me the green light, I will start training just as hard as my teammates. I promised I’ll be careful not to push myself,” she added.
The tests showed Silvia will have to work especially hard to rehabilitate her back muscles

The German doctor advised Silvia to go to the Sports Medicine Center (in Bucharest) before joining the national team, and undergo another NMR [nuclear magnetic resonance] test. “I’ll go to Constanta after this test,” explained Silvia. She will be forced to follow a different training regime, and gradually reintegrate into the national team. After Sabina Cojocar, Silvia is the second gymnast from the 2001 team who might fulfill the requirements of coaches Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang. After the break-up of the team, which led to Romania not fielding a senior team at the recent European Championships for the first time [since a team competition was held], the two coaches said they will no longer accept any compromises from the gymnasts they train.

All the gymnasts on the senior team, besides Andreea Răducan were sent home, due to health-related problems, but also lack of discipline. Loredana Boboc, Carmen Ionescu, and Andreea Ulmeanu couldn’t make it back on the team, even though they tried. The coaches deemed the gymnasts below the fitness level they required. In fact, two of the gymnasts, namely Loredana Boboc and Carmen Ionescu decided to retire from competitive gymnastics.

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