Changing of the guard

Last week-end, the Olimpia Sport Hall in Ploiesti hosted the 44th edition of the Romanian International Gymnastics Championships. This was the first major competition hosted by Romania after the new COP went into effect. “We looked at everything as a trial run before Worlds, which will be held in November in Ghent. That’s exactly why I competed girls whom I was sure could win a medal in one of the events,” said head coach Octavian Belu. The first two places in the AA went to Andreea Răducan, gold medallist in Sydney and the star of the competition, and her younger teammate, Silvia Stroescu. “I was more nervous Saturday [in the AA] and I made some mistakes, but I was myself again Sunday. I think I adapted well to the new code,” added Andreea. Loredana Boboc, who wanted to leave the national team in March, did an exhibition performance, scoring 9.213 on floor and 9.15 on vault. “I had some ideas, but I’m over them. Right now, I just think about doing a good job [when I compete] and losing some more weight,” said Loredana. Belu replied, saying that although the majority of the gymnasts are above their ideal weight, he hasn’t been too worried about this aspect ever since the new code. “The performance itself is what matters now. Half a point [actually, 0.3] is awarded for appearance, the way a gymnast looks and presents herself.”
In the men’s event, Romania went 1-2 in the all-around competition, with Marian Drăgulescu scoring a 9.800 on vault on his way to a gold medal, and Dan Potra, who excelled on rings -9.55- finishing second

The official retirement ceremony for Olympic champions Simona Amânar, Maria Olaru and Claudia Presacan was held at the end of the competition. Every one of the gymnasts walked underneath a flower bridge, formed by their former teammates from Deva as the crowd cheered them on. They received diplomas and trophies from their home clubs, as well as from Youth and Sports Georgiu Gingăras, state secretary Nicolae Mărăsescu, ROC president Ion Tiriac, Nadia Comăneci and her husband, Bart Conner. "The hardest thing is leaving the girls behind. I don’t know any other life, except the one I shared with them,” said Simona Amânar.

The surprise guests of the competition, Nadia Comăneci and Bart Conner, taped the event, set to be broadcast by Fox Sports Net, an American cable channel. "It was Bart’s idea. These Internationals were shown only once by American television, in 1977, when I competed there, too,” explained Nadia. At the end of the competition, she interviewed Octavian Belu and Andreea Răducan.

Last week-end also marked Corina Ungureanu’s official retirement from the sport, the gymnast who posed for Playboy. Her ceremony was held a day before Simona, Maria and Claudia’s, and with a lot less pomp and circumstance. “This differentiation was very odd. Officially, an announcement had been made that the four gymnasts will have a retirement ceremony together. I was stupefied to find out Corina had already had a separate ceremony,” said state secretary Nicolae Mărăsescu. "I’m not mad, at least they thought about me,” confessed Corina.

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