Post-Olympic Accusations

Florentin Pescaru thinks the Romanian men's team could have done better in Sydney if their coaches would have brought along another alternate.

Florentin Pescaru started gymnastics 17 years ago, in Resita, following the advice of his uncle, Sorin Buda, former teammate of the legendary Dan Grecu. His uncle was convinced young Florin would make a good gymnast someday after seeing his nephew doing handstands at an outdoor swimming pool. Everything started out as a game, but in the 1986-1987 season, he entered his first competition. Immediately after the event, Florin wanted to quit the sport because Iulian Olaru, his coach at the time, beat him [the article did not specify whether his coach beat him "only" after that particular event, or if it was a regular occurrence]. Several months passed, and Florentin switched to wrestling, where he even qualified to a regional competition. He was rediscovered by coach Mircea Ciocănel, who convinced him to come back to gymnastics.

Pescaru was the best gymnast in his age category, but Florentin says he fell out of general RGF secretary, Adrian Stoica's graces who "undermined me because I didn't want to go to Steaua or Dinamo." In September 1994, after he won the vault title at the Junior European Championships, he was asked to join the National team. That's how he became a contender for the Olympic team. 5 of the 6 members for the Sydney Olympics were already known 6 months before the start of the competition. The last place was up for grabs, with Timisoara gymnasts Florentin Pescaru and Dan Potra, as well as Steaua's Nistor Sandro being the front runners. Two weeks before the Olympics, Romania took part in dual meet against Spain, and Florentin Pescaru placed second in the all-around, earning a trip to Sydney. "Since Marius Urzică only did a maximum of three events, Dorin Petcu's injury has a big impact on our team. We had only 4.5 gymnasts left, and our coaches kept telling Dorin 'C'mon, Petcu, do at least one event so we can get our money's worth!'" Pescaru thinks that the Romanian team could have finished as high as 4th if Dan Potra would have been sent to Sydney. "Without Petcu, the team event doesn't matter anymore. We're only interested in Urzică's pommel horse routine," decided team coaches Aurelian Georgescu and Csaba Gal. Instead of sending Dan Potra to Sydney, the RGF decided to sent technician Csaba Gal, who was "responsible for the team atmosphere" and had the title of 'team man' on his official credential!

Nicolae Vieru, RGF president, said the governing body of the sport was always understanding towards Pescaru. "He left the national team to go to a club in Germany in 1997, but he took him back in 1999. I'm surprised by the attack he launched against Adrian Stoica, because he always supports our gymnasts," added Vieru. A few days ago it was decided Florentin would still be a member of the national team. "Our coaches could have concentrated 7,000 times harder on the team's performance in Sydney, but the only way we could have gotten a better results was if the gymnasts would have performed better. They made the right choice by focusing on the individual medals," concluded Vieru. The RGF president believes all the accusations can be attributed to Pescaru's professional dissatisfaction. "Maybe he is unhappy with himself and he's trying to blame others for his missed opportunities. I appreciate him and I admit he brings a big contribution to our team, but he could work harder."

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