Hometown Club Recognizes Constantin Covaci

CSM-PAB Arad organized a press conference in order to clear up any confusion about Constantin Covaci’s club membership. The Arad club wanted to make sure everyone knew the gymnast had always trained at CSM Arad until joining the National team and still represents his home club in national competition. The Romanian media incorrectly claimed Covaci was a member of Dinamo Bucharest. Coach Eugen Catean, the one who discovered an trained the 21-year old gymnast, said the confusion was due to a mistake that was never corrected. Covaci is the youngest Senior national team member, and should have a bright future ahead of him. His score on rings, a 9.362, was the second highest score on the Romanian team. Specialists said rings was the most important event in ensuring the Romanian team won the European title. Coach Eugen Catean added he expects his gymnasts to be a force to be reckoned with on rings, since he has the ideal built for this event, but he also has world-class routines on vault and high bar.
His coach, Eugen Catean has been in gymnastics for 23 years, and his gymnasts won 198 medals so far.

Local newpaper Adevarul de Arad published a longer article about the same event, including an interview with Constantin Covaci.

CSM Arad officials organized a press conference to honor club member and recent European champion Constantin Covaci. His coach Eugen Catean, the director of CSM Arad Eugen Roman, club vice-president Vasile Paltineanu and the director of the Arad County YSD Stelian Vaduva were also in attendance.

The event started with a champagne toast for the newly-crowned European champion as a “tune-up for what was to come,” according to club director Eugen Roman.
Meanwhile CSM Arad has now hired Covaci as a full-time employee and will pay him a monthly salary as long as he keps competing.

The main purpose of the press conference was to clarify any confusion regarding Covaci’s club membership. The Arad journalists were rightfully upset with the centralized media who said Constantin Covaci represented the club Dinamo Bucharest. CSM Arad’s director wanted to added that "with your support, we would like to inform the centralized media that Constantin Covaci is a100% product of Arad, and he was discovered and trained by coach Eugen Catean.” The honorary club president explained that “a lot of journalists from the centralized media go to worlds or Europeans and stay in their hotel room, watch TV and that’s where they write their stories. Unfortunately, that’s centralized media for you.”

Unlike Worlds, the teams for the European Championships consists of 5 athletes, and no alternates. Coach Catean explained that 3 gymnasts compete on every event and all scores count towards the team total. Choosing the right tactic is starting to play a major role in gymnastics. Eugen Catean told reporters Constantin Covaci is a rings specialist, getting the second highest score on the Romanian team on the event. “His built helps Covaci on rings. He got a 9.362, and if it weren’t for the step on the landing that cost him a tenth of a point, he could have finished higher than 15th on the event,” added the coach.

While Covaci’s dream is to win a medal at the Olympic Games in Athens, and his age and talent are good reasons to be optimistic about his future, we asked coach Catean who are the up-and-comers at his club. He said he was happy with the joint training program with CSS Arad, less so with losing a gymnastics coaching position in favor of hiring a new handball coach. Despite the less-than-ideal training conditions, and a gym that isn’t always open he said we should keep an eye on two of his gymnasts Sergiu Marocico and Adelin Kotrong.

AA: When did you start gymnastics? What got you involved in the sport?
CC: I started gymnastics when I was 7 years old. I was working with coach Eugen Catean even then. I liked gymnastics because it was an elegant sport.
AA: Were you nervous in Patras? Be honest, did you really expect to win the gold medal?
CC: I was thinking about a podium finish. It’s true the gold medal with the team far exceeded my expectations. I wasn’t more nervous than usual. I managed to control my nerves, and make them work in my favor. I was more nervous watching my teammates perform. Our competitors were strong; any mistake could have proven costly.
AA: This was your first major competition as a senior and it ended with a great result. What’s next?
CC: I’m going back to Bucharest. I was given a one-day break from the national team. From there, we’ll go to two competitions, a dual meet with the French team in France, and a tri-meet in Hawaii, against the US and Chinese teams.
AA: The Olympic Games are still your long-term goal, aren’t they? CC” Obviously, they are the most important part of my life. Our next test will the Worlds and Europeans again. I have to make a name for myself in the gymnastics world until Athens.
AA: How many hours a day do you train? Do you have free time left? What are some of your other hobbies, besides gym?
CC: I work 6-7 hours a day with the national team. I don’t have much free time left and I spend it listening to music, watching TV, or going for a walk. We can’t forget I am a 3rd year student at the Sports University in Arad.
AA: You prize money will likely be tripled, given the fact this is the first success of this magnitude for men’s gymnastics in Romania. Do you know what you’ll do with the money?
CC: I don’t really know yet. I would be happy if the proposal to triple our prize money would be accepted. It is a reward for our work, after all. I think we deserve that money. For now…I just hope we’ll gather a lot [of money]. Same goes for good results in competitions!

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