"Outside Romania, everyone appreciates what we do.
Inside, people are trying to bring down Romanian gymnastics”

CN: Mr. Vieru what is happening with Romanian gymnastics?
NV: It’s hard to explain. The press has been conducting an aggressive campaign against us for the past two years. We don’t know why, nor whom this could benefit. One thing is for sure, outside Romania, everyone appreciates what we do. Inside, people are trying to bring down the competitive gymnastics system.
CN: Is it true the RGF suggested modifying Gina Gogean and Alexandra Marinescu’s birthdays, so they would be eligible for important senior events?
NV: We didn’t change anything. As an answer to the news sent in by a Romanian journalist, the FIG contacted us, clearly stating the Governing Body does not investigate the athletes' DOBs. They simply check their passports, relying on the local state authorities who issue the official documents. If someone feels they can foster a competitive gymnastics system, and our system is too strict, then we’ll resign and let a better person take over.
CN: If the DOBs were indeed changed, wouldn’t the gymnast’s parents have to be involved, too, since they sign a release form when they sign their daughter up for lessons?
NV: Of course. They are the ones who bring in the children’s birth certificates, after all. Moreover, nobody is forced to join the competitive program, unless they want to.
CN: One of the accusations made is that training sessions are too hard and the children cannot deal with them physically, which is why so many serious injuries surface. Is that what really happens?
NV: Nobody complained so far. You can talk to Milosovici, Amanar, Gogean --gymnasts who competed in two Olympic Games, and see what they have to say. Nobody can achieve great results without sacrifices. However, this does not mean they are beaten up, or kept [at Deva] against their will.
CN: You are Vice-President of the FIG. Have you been reprimanded in any way by the international federation?
NV: No. But our international image has been severely affected. Moreover, this campaign hurts the athletes because the European Championships start today. You can imagine how they would be looked upon and how they would feel, when the local press is basically saying they should give up all their medals, since they won them trough fraud. Moreover, the international press agencies are full of these news stories. I think we’re a unique case. We hurt ourselves. We can’t believe how far we’ve come. It will be interesting to see what this campaign helped solve.

At the opposite end, former national team member Alexandra Marinescu talked about her experience in gymnastics. She is working on a book with help from a Romanian journalist, and her story was picked up by AFP, the French Press Agency. Dubbed “the new Nadia”, Alexandra was one of the most promising gymnasts on Romania’s team, on her way to international success. She ended up being forced into premature retirement by a back injury, when she was only 15. Since her retirement, she already underwent 3 surgical procedures on her back. The journalist who is working on her autobiography talked to AFP about her story. “Alexandra talks about her coaches locking her up in a room for 3 days straight, in order to make her lose weight, only giving her water to drink. She also confessed to being slapped or hit by her coaches, along with teammates such as Lavinia Milosovici and Gina Gogean, whenever they didn’t perform up to the coaches’ expectations during training.”

In another interview with Romanian newspaper ProSport, the one who broke the story of modified birth dates and fraudulent birth certificates, Alexandra went as far as saying she has no interest in gymnastics anymore. "I’ll live with constant pain due to what happened for the rest of my life. The pain will never go away. I think about the kids [who take up gym], their health. Why should they ruin their health for a sport? That’s why I don’t want to be a gymnastics coach. If I were a coach I could, knock on wood, misplace my hand on a spot and drop a kid. It would be a huge risk and it’s just not worth it. I have other plans for the future that are not related to sports. I want to be a DJ, work on mixing music, and other similar things.”
Asked about her future aspirations Alexandra simply stated that “right now, the most important thing for me is to get well. God gave me the strength to get through all this pain…What happened in the past is worthless to me. I’m not like other kids. The future is more important.”

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