Daniela Silivas, 10 years later

Copyrighted photo by Gazeta Sporturilor

Daniela Silivas' career can be summed up in three words -grace, harmony and perfection. Her performances throughout her career 1985-1989, garnered her world-wide recognition and numerous newspapers devoted entire pages to her. For many, Daniela represented the continuation of the Romanian gymnastics tradition. She was the missing link between Nadia's generation and Lavinia Milosovici's. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, she delighted the crowd, winning 6 medals, including 3 golds. 13 years have passed since then and her name is starting to be forgotten. And that could be attributed to the fact that Daniela, like many of her teammates, chose to go a different way [leave the country].

She left for the United States in August 1991. Unlike us, Americans know how to appreciate their role-models, so they welcomed Daniela with open arms. The 21 year-old gymnast found her identity and place in life once again. "I left for the US with a contract for 6 months. I had met a Romanian family, the Ivanchius, who had a gym in Atlanta. I liked it and decided to stay in the US for good. I only worked for the Ivanchius for one year because Mrs. Ivanchiu got sick and they could no longer keep the gym. But I found another place to work very quickly." For the time being, Daniela works at a gym that's part of a recreation park in Atlanta. "I have a group of children ages 3 to 15. I go to competitions in Georgia with 10 of the gymnasts. Gymnastics is well-received here, many kids being attracted to the sport. They do it for pleasure, though, not for performance. The park where I work is owned by the American government. They offer a gymnastics program, but also tennis, basketball, etc"

Daniela met her boyfriend, Scott, a year and a half ago at the gym where she works. "We met at the gym. I was already working there when Scott came. He loved children and wanted to coach basketball and baseball. It was love at first site." Scott is majoring in sport management at a local university and he hopes to graduate at the end of the year. As far as future plans are concerned, Daniela said that "We plan to get married in a year or two. We don't want to rush anything. Marriage is an important step in life." The two of them agreed on how many children they want to have -"two, a girl and a boy."

Even though she's been in the US for almost 10 years, Daniela's heart is still in her native country. "I come to Romania often. My mother lives in Deva. Last time I came back for the New Year. I only stayed for two weeks back then. Unfortunately, I don't really know anyone who still lives in Romania." Whenever she gets to Deva, Daniela visits the gym to say hi to her former coaches. Her next trip back to Romania is scheduled for the summer of 2001.

Daniela still keeps in touch with her former teammates from the National team. She sees Aurelia Dobre, Eugenia Golea and Lavinia Agache (who live in the US now) at least once a year. But Daniela's best friend is still Ecaterina Szabo, who lives in France. "I usually spend my winter holidays with Kati and Adrian Goreac, our former coach. Last winter I went home and I didn't get to see Kati, so Scott and I will go to Paris this summer," added Daniela.

When asked about her retirement Daniela said that "in February 1990, it was decided that the national team will no longer exist. It was said this centralization belonged to the communist system. After 7 years of working with coach Octavian Belu, we were being sent back to our home clubs. It was hard for me to start anew with a new coach. I also had to have knee surgery in March of the same year. So I made the wisest decision -to retire."

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