Belu interview

Octavian Belu talked to Romanian newspaper Ziua about the future of the Romanian team, and expressed his dissatisfaction with Olympians Andreea Isarescu and Loredana Boboc.

"I'm starting to regret that after Sydney I got carried away by the wave of enthusiasm that hit the country, and I made a compromise, agreeing to give the same amount of prize money to all the gymnasts, even if their contribution to the team medal was different," confessed the head coach referring to the indifference Andreea Isarescu and Loredana Boboc have shown in their training. "These kids got used to being alternates of sorts who got a medal around their neck. Given that Simona Amanar, Maria Olaru and Claudia Presacan retired from gymnastics, the two of them should be key members, the center of the team who will represent us at Worlds. They got too used to doing only one or two events, while the others were bona-fide train engines [pulling the rest of the team] And it's not fair! While Simona competed for a full week in Sydney, Boboc competed only in the team event, doing only two apparatus. Especially after the new COP, we need gymnast of proven value. We can't do the so-called "cosmetic" routines anymore, when they contained only the minimum level of difficulty. I can't count on the juniors who moved up to the senior team, so it's only normal I'd ask the two of them to take training more seriously. At major events, no one wins for their past results, but based on their current team and I noticed I can't take advantage of their [Boboc & Isarescu's] experience. In any case, we'll only take the gymnasts who are in top form at World, and we don't have to have 6 gymnasts on the team. Five will do! I see they only learned addition [of their earnings from prize money], not hard work. The financial incentive had a different effect on them. For Andreea Raducan, it pushed her to work even harder, which means it depends on each gymnasts' individual character. Since this is how things stand, I might change my strategy, especially since there have been talks of having only 3 gymnasts on the team. Let's not forget that in 1996, Ukraine placed 4th in the team event, but Podkopayeva won the AA. We don't necessarily have to try and win team gold. In the end, a medal's still a medal!"

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