How former gymnasts earn a living when not taking their clothes off

Original article was published on December 3rd in Adevarul

Even though the echoes of the scandal started by former gymnasts Lavinia Milosovici, Corina Ungureanu and Claudia Presecan posing nude for a Japanese magazine have almost died down in Romania, the issue is just now being debated in the rest of the gymnastics world. At one point, the gymnasts said they did it for they money, implying this is one of the few ways a former gymnast can earn a living. Using that as a starting point, we caught up with three other former gymnasts, Ecaterina Szabo, Simona Amanar and Maria Olaru, and asked them how they earned a living once their gymnastics careers ended.

Ecaterina Szabo’s results showcase her as one of the best gymnasts ever to come out of Romania. That’s what the French were counting on, when they offered her a job as a coach in 1992 at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand club. "Even if I didn’t have money, I wouldn’t take my clothes off to make more," said Ecaterina Szabo. "It’s a question of personal beliefs. To be honest, I was surprised when I found out what they’d done, but everyone can live their life as they see fit. As far as I’m concerned, I make a living the same way people all over the world do –I work. It’s true that some have more money than others, but we can manage. Take a look at our former champions, the ones from my generation and even later on. They all work -coaching- to earn a living. It’s hard work, but you can live comfortably. In any case, I’m very, very happy with my life here in France, my family and my work.”

Simona Amanar retired from competitive gymnastics in 2000, right after the Sydney Olympics and she’s been keeping busy ever since. She finished college, married Cosmin Tabara, son of politician Valeriu Tabara, and had a baby boy who’s now 3 months old. "I finished college this year, but while going to school I also worked with children at a local school and kindergarten. I did this to gain more experience because I plan to work in the education field. Now, even though I am married and have a baby, I teach at the university where I graduated from, Universitatea de Vest and at another university, Tibiscus. I’m also getting ready to start teaching at my kindergarten again. When we went to the US on our honeymoon, I even received a few coaching offers, but I didn’t want to stay. One thing’s for sure, I still feel comfortable in gymnastics circles. As far as the money I won from gymnastics is concerned, although not a lot, it was enough for me to buy an apartment in Timisoara and start building a house which I hope will be ready for us in time for the Holidays."

Maria Olaru’s claim to fame came in 1999, when she won Romania’s first all-around world title after a 12-year wait. After her retirement in 2000, she’s been attending two universities and hopes to get both of her degrees soon, so she can start her own business. “I went to Austria for one month last year to coach some young gymnasts. Now I attend two universities, and I work at a kindergarten, but it’s just a volunteer job because I don’t make any money. I want to start teaching aerobics starting next week at a fitness club here in Timisoara. Then, I want to finish my degree from my Bucharest university, where I’m majoring in business because I plan to start investing my money in a business. Until then, I just live off of the prize money I won while I was a gymnast.”

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