Gogean, Milosovici & Amanar React to Editorial

Former Romanian national team members Simona Amînar, Lavinia Milosovici and Gina Gogean Reacted to an editorial by Cristian Tudor Popescu published in Romanian newspaper Adevărul.

Nowadays, Romanian gymnastics is struggling to regain its balance. It also has to carry a heavy load, that of harsh accusations coming from sports writers.
The idea that the Deva "lab” actually leads to breaking down the girls’ bodies, leaving them crippled for life, caused a strong reaction in the gymnastics community. The first to react were some of the biggest names in Romanian gymnastics. Three former World and Olympic champions, who trained in Deva, were very upset with the latest labeling they received. Now settled in Timisoara, Lavinia Milosovici, Gina Gogean, and Simona Amînar-Tabără called Gazeta Sporturilor to state their point of view

Simona broke down crying
Olympic Champion and team leader Simona Amînar wanted to clarify a few things. “I also read what was published about the horrible tings that supposedly take place at Deva. I don’t think that girls who do gymnastics end up crippled for life, or that they turn out to be [physically] handicapped adults. I believe gymnastics helps you accomplish something in life, and not just inside the gym. While it’s true that I didn’t make as much money as a soccer or tennis player would have made, I can’t say I’m poor,” said Simona. Moreover, the Sydney gold medallist added. “All I want is to set the record straight. If I were this crippled, handicapped woman, I wouldn’t have gotten married, got accepted into a university and be respected by everyone. I just broke into tears when I saw what was said about us.”
Simona also said that all gymnastics team will be faced with hardships, but in the end they can prevail. “When the team was struggling, I had to bring it back on track as team leader. I read that Andreea Răducan said she would have liked to be a better team leader than I was. I’m sorry to say, but so far she’s done little else but prove she has no leadership experience.”

Is this what we bring to mind?
Gina Gogean, another well-known name in the gymnastics community, wasn’t exactly thrilled by the press’ reaction vis-ŕ-vis of what happened in Deva. Gina sent a fax to Gazeta Sporturilor, expressing her opinion. “We don’t feel like were some sort test-tube conceived human material. If our parents didn’t graduate college, that doesn’t necessarily mean we were sent away from home so they would have one less child to worry about. Maybe they saw gymnastics as a chance to offer us a better life, and a different social status then the one they had. And it looks like they didn’t go wrong. Gymnastics instilled a winning mentality in us, not at all the mentality of slaves, or obedient servants. We don’t feel crippled, or stupid enough not to know what we want out of life. Modern gymnastics might not appeal to everybody, but that’s why the remote control was invented. It has been said that gymnastics creates some sort of monsters of retards. Is that what we bring to mind? We believe that this campaign to bring gymnastics down to the mediocre level of today’s [Romanian] society serves no one. If being accepted in the European Union would depend upon the number of medals won in gymnastics we would have been in a long time ago. Unfortunately there are other social and economic factors taken into account!”

The three-time World Champion did not avoid talking about the current situation at Deva, either. “As far as the current situation at Deva is concerned, the lack of interest demonstrated by the current team members led to this turn of events. I understand this is hard for Andreea because she is alone, but she should make an effort to rally the other gymnasts around her and get over this difficult situation. I would like to add that this complaint was written with the cooperation of my former teammates, Simona Amînar and Lavinia Milosovici".

A bitter taste
Another great champion, Lavinia Milosovici also voiced her disapproval. “It would be best to do some research, before publishing an article. I don’t consider myself crippled or handicapped. I believe all sports have their share of health problem, not just gymnastics. Coaches Belu and Bitang did not leave us crippled, nor did they force to do something we didn’t want. Reading what was said about us left me with a bitter taste. I want to work as a coach. What should I make of this –will the girls I train end up crippled for life? As far as the current team is concerned, I think Andreea shouldn’t have rushed into making statements about retiring before a major event, like the European Championships.”

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