The days when the Deva gym mass produced Olympic and World champions are long gone. Back then, training conditions left a lot to be desired of, but the people involved were very dedicated. Things seem to have changed since, almost to the point where the coaching staff is dealing with a complete reversal of the situation.
GS: Mr. Belu, I think you put quite a bit of work into
this gym.
OB: Yes, I’ve been through a lot for this gym. I worked as an engineer,
architect, I was in charge of supplies...but everything worked out eventually.
Over $100,000 was invested in the gym and it shows.
GS: Nothing should stop you from getting great results
now.
OB: That’s not quite true. While the gym is ready, and it looks better than any
other gym in the West, my problem is that now that I have a gym, I don’t have
any gymnasts anymore.
GS:[Meaning]????
OB: Don’t be surprised. That’s how things stand. The fact that gymnasts like
Andreea Ulmeanu or Monica Sabou, who never competed at a major event, are on our
team for Worlds says a lot about the crisis our program is going through. Same
can be said about the fact that I have to send 7 gymnasts to Ghent, and I only
have 7 to chose from. I don’t have a choice.
GS: Sounds fairly grim/pessimistic...
OB: Yes, but I don’t want to make any more pessimistic predictions. I will
no longer make predictions so that people can’t say that’s just a strategy I use
to dramatize the situation, so that we [the coaching staff] can come out looking
like heroes. All I can say is that things aren’t going as planned. We’ll see how
things stand at Worlds.
GS: We really don’t have a shot [at winning]?
OB: That’s not what I said. Of course, we might even win, but this will all
depend on luck and other circumstances.
GS: What can we expect in Ghent?
OB: It will be a bizarre competition. Very few routines will start from a
10.0. There will be a lot of falls because podium training was done away with.
For example, during team finals, only 3 gymnasts will compete and all 3 scores
will count. The FIG has borrowed a sorry idea from the UEG and is selling it off
as the latest trend. A lot of subjective criteria will show up in the scoring,
like expressing the music, posture, and how spectacular a routine is.
GS: Will you get rid of the American team?
OB: That’s not the right word for it, because I would be a lot happier to
place ahead of them in a competition, rather than win by default. But it is very
possible the American team will miss Worlds now that Jihad has started.
GS: You seem relaxed. You don’t seem to be too
concerned about the gymnasts' less than ideal form.
OB: I am very worried about it, but what can I do? I can’t force them into
something they should do of their own accord. If they don’t understand that, you
can’t force someone to be a competitive athlete. I think I heard “I can’t” more
often in the last month than in the past 20 years I’ve been at Deva. I tell them
to lose weight and they say they can’t. Before, I would take the girl, drape her
in 3 sweatshirts and make her run up and down the mountain to the old fortress
until she couldn’t feel her legs. If I tried to do the same now, she’d call her
parents or some newspaper and victimize herself. There’s nothing else to be
done. I’ll just let them be 4-6 lbs overweight. They are the ones losing out.
GS: However, we heard some of them complain of health
problems, serious pain...
OB: These are unavoidable in gymnastics. How could your back not hurt after
hundreds of landings? But now, gymnasts give up at the first sign of pain. They
have no maturity or sense of responsibility. And we don’t force them to do
anything anymore because this is a free country. Nobody forces them to stay [at
Deva].
GS: What do the doctors say?
OB: I send my gymnasts to the doctor at the first sign of a problem. No one
does gymnastics without getting clearance form the Sports Medical Institute
anymore. It’s like they’re all obsessed with this. They’re getting magnetic
resonance tests done all day long. That’s what happened to Alexandra Barac
just now. She was advised to stop training, and she immediately left the
National team.
GS: Do you miss Milosovici?
OB: Her generation, in general. Milo didn’t even know what a magnetic
resonance test was. She’d push herself to the limit every time. And, she only
had half the training conditions we have now. But she still managed to win gold
at two Olympic Games
”There’s no motivation.”
Assistant coach Mariana Bitang explained why the current
National team members are far below the level of previous gymnasts.
Not long ago, Mariana Bitang said she will stop coaching at Deva, saying her
deteriorating health is largely due to the stressful activities at Deva.
GS: Mrs. Bitang, you are back in the gym again
MB: For now, yes. I decided to keep working, even though this isn’t easy. If
I were to quit now, right before Worlds, people could have said I fled the
battle scene, and I might have influenced the team on a physiological level. I
decided to stay here, but I don’t know for how long.
GS: How do you feel now?
MB: If I were to show you my medical file it would look like a med school
book. It’s over 10 pages long. I had tens of check-ups and all the doctors told
me the same thing –there’s nothing serious. I just need to relax and get away
from stress, which is basically impossible while I’m at Deva.
MB: I would just stand in the gym during practice and all of a sudden, I’d
start shivering, sweating or my blood pressure would shoot up. This happened to
me, and I’m usually hypotensive [have low blood pressure]. This started
happening more and more often.
GS: What are you unhappy with now?
MB: First of all, the girls’ attitude. They have no motivation or strength
of character anymore. They give up at the first sign of pain and we have to send
them over to the bench.
GS: You seem to have changed, too. Before you used to
raise your voice and tell them to keep going. They knew you were in charge.
MB: We gave up trying to will them on. We can’t police everything around
here. Gymnastics is voluntary here. Who wants to do it, does. Those that don’t,
are free to leave. I can’t stress myself out convincing a gymnast she needs to
do her job.
GS: Why do you think the gymnasts’ lack the strength of
character of previous generations?
MB: Well, they’re billionaires now. They have cars, and allowances. They’re
not interested putting forth their best effort. For example, Rãducan and
Boboc are about 4-6 lbs overweight right now. When I tell them to lose
weight, they say it simply cannot be done.
GS: Maybe that is the case
MB: Yeah right. Milo and Gina would train with hardly any
light in the gym, without any air conditioning. There were 4 of them in one
room, and they didn’t complain. Milo competed with broken bones in her wrist for
4 years.
GS: Still, can’t you do more as coaches?
MB: We don’t have anyone to work with. These girls have no competitive fire
in them. There’s 7 of them and all 7 are going to Worlds. They know we can’t
replace either one of them.