Andreea Rãducan Interview

Original article was published on October 2nd in ProSport

Monday, Andreea Rãducan turned 19. Many athletes are just starting their careers at 19, but she’s retiring. And, she has quite a few reasons to stop. For now, she’s not sure she’ll compete at the Individual Apparatus Worlds in Deberecen, Hungary. She announced her retirement without knowing her coaches’ decision not to include her on the team. “Maybe they’re right. You don’t know. I might need to stop now. It’s true that I fell twice at the competition in China, but to be honest, I feel like I can do at least one event in Hungary,” she said.

"I dreamt about swallowing the Nurophen pill twice"

PS: Andreea, if you were do everything all over again…
AR: I don’t think I’d like to be gymnast anymore. At least, that’s how I feel now when I’m still doing the sport.
PS: Why?
AR: Because after the Sydney Olympics, I dreamt about swallowing the Nurophen pill twice. That very moment. I relived that moment in my sleep. I woke up sweating and crying every time.
PS: Is that the only reason?
AR: Maybe not! I was about to die twice in my career. First time it happened in Bîrlad. I landed a vault on my neck. Everyone was really scared. Then at Onesti. I was doing a floor routine. Same thing happened.
PS: When you’ll have kids, will you send them to gymnastics lessons?
AR: No, I don’t think so. Actually, I can say how things worked out for me. I was young and didn’t know what planet I was on. I would cry if my father wouldn’t take me to the gym one day. But as time went by, I realized what risks I was taking.
PS: Do you regret choosing this sport?
AR: Sometimes I do. But there are times when I think I could very well have been an unknown Andreea Rãducan from Bîrlad, studying at SoAndSo High School.

"I’m tired of everything"

PS: Did your coaches ever hit you?
AR: No. I was never beaten. Mr. Belu and Mrs. Bitang would rather kick me out of the gym when I did something wrong. Coaches feel you.
PS: What do you mean, they feel you?
AR: Well, whenever they came in the gym they had a saying “Is she going to fly today, or isn’t she going to fly?” After a few minutes, they knew if I was flying, meaning if I was doing well at the training session. I’ll admit I got where I am thanks to them.
PS: They’re the same ones accusing you of being overweight and lacking discipline.
AR: The coaches have their opinion and we have ours. I learned that you need be extremely insolent to make it in life. But there are times when you have to decide what Yyou’ll take to heart and what you won’t. In the end, if you’re as big as an elephant, you can’t get up on the beam.
PS: What did you think of life on the team?
AR: Awful. Extremely boring. But that’s how things stand, if you want to be competitive. For example, maybe I wanted to go out with my friends on my birthday. I couldn’t because I had a training session in the evening. I’m tired of everything.
PS: what will you think about when you’ll leave the Deva gym?
AR: Good thing I’m out! Good thing I’m out of here healthy.

"n Sydney, I was happy, then ashamed, then calm"

PS: What do you remember from the Sydney incident?
AR: Two feelings. One of happiness, the other one of sadness. I was the all-around Olympic champion the, but later on my title was stripped. I was happy, because the outside world understood what I was going through, though.
PS: Where were you when you heard the news?
AR: In my room. Mr. Belu came in and whispered to Mrs. Bitang that I tested positive for banned substances. He kept asking me what pills I took and I went blank. But the worst moments were the ones inside the gym. I was under the impression everyone was giving me evil looks. That wasn’t the case.
PS: Do you blame Dr. Ioachim Oanã?
AR: No, not at all. He wanted to help me then. But I don’t want to talk about that anymore.

"2002 was a bad year for me"

PS: How's this year been going?
AR: Pretty bad. I kept thinking about retiring earlier, but Worlds are almost here and I’m still at Deva.
PS: How was the competition in China?
AR: Fairly hard for me. I fell on beam and floor, but due to lack of concentration.. It happens. You reach an age when these things happen.
PS: Are you overweight?
AR: This question is starting to obsess me. I probably am. In any case, it’s been pretty hard for me to even maintain my current weight.

RGF President Nicolae Vieru said it is not up to the National Federation whether to send Raducan to Worlds or not. He added that she “reached a certain age and I think that’s why she cannot lose the extra weight anymore, which affects her training. She said we forced her to continue now, but that’s not true. We tried to see if she still had a chance.”

It is interesting to note that amid all these talks about weight, the national team has reverted to sneaking food into their hotel rooms. While training At Constanta this summer, the gymnasts called the hotel desk and asked if they would buy some things for them if they gave them money. The girls were told yes, and two of them went out with a list that included chocolate, bagels, marmalade donuts, and wafers. The food would be hidden in one room and the gymnasts would come in one by one and eat.

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