[Feb 26] Girl dies after collapsing at gymnastics class
Greenwood, N.S. -- Counsellors were at a school yesterday to help students after a 14-year-old Nova Scotia girl collapsed at a gymnastics class and later died. Amanda Elizabeth Forster of Kingston was one of about 14 children taking part in the Annapolis Valley Gymnastics Academy session last night. The RCMP said she had been complaining of headaches and had just finished doing chin-ups when she collapsed.

[Feb 24] Presidential Comission for supporting the Romanian sport
Bucharest, Feb 24 /Rompres/ - The first meeting of the Presidential Commission for discussing the support given to the Romanian sports took place on Thursday at the Cotroceni presidential Palace, in the presence of President Traian Basescu. The head of state considers this decision as necessary as there hasn't been any serious policy with regard to sports in the last 15 years. Traian Basescu voiced hope that this Commission will contribute to the introduction of sports in the schools program, as a selective basis for the future.
The members of the Commission are the state advisers on sports issues, former gym coaches Mariana Bitang and Octavian Belu ...

[Feb 24] Nadia Comaneci at 15th Annual Sports Legends Awards
LOS ANGELES – The 15th Annual Sports Legends Awards, presented by The Paralysis Project of America, will honor three-time Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly (USA) in ceremonies to be held Saturday, Feb. 25, at The Omni Hotel in Los Angeles. Other sports legends to be honored include gymnastics greats Bart Conner (USA) and Nadia Comaneci (Romania), pro football's Willie Davis (Green Bay Packers), Olympic swimming's Donna de Varona (USA), and horse racing's Alex Solis (Panama).

Nadia Comaneci - The Perfect Ten
While growing up as a gymnast in Palatine, Michele Hernandez was surrounded by Nadia Comaneci fans. Comaneci was synonymous with "10" back in 1976, when the Romanian teen hit for perfection on the uneven bars at the Summer Olympics in Montreal. "She was great, no doubt," says Hernandez, an '87 Fremd graduate and three-time state floor-exercise champ. "Everybody was talking about Nadia, about what she had accomplished, about what she meant to the sport. But I wanted to be like Lori Erickson. She had elegance, grace, the best demeanor. She was ... it."

[Feb 19] San Francisco Chronicle/ Another Baby name sugesstion: "Flip"
Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner are expecting a baby boy in July. Bart, who will assist in the delivery, is so anxious that he's already chalking up. -- They'll name the baby Flip...

[Feb 18] Gymnastics instructor gets prison sentence for molesting two boys
A Mesa gymnastics instructor has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison in the molestation case of two boys he taught. Police arrested David Pyles in June after the parents of one of the boys came forward. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 10 to two counts of attempted molestation of a child.
Pyles faced a five-year minimum sentence Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court under the plea deal because he had two victims, according to prosecutors. Pyles, who worked at USA Gymnastics, said he recognized he had a problem and tried to get counseling. He even quit a previous coaching job to avoid molesting children.

[Feb 17] Courage is a word Rakow embodies
Nadia Comaneci, the keynote speaker at Thursday's National Girls and Women in Sports Day Luncheon, finished her speech with a motto she said she tries to live by. "Don't pray for an easy life," the former Olympic gymnast said. "Pray to be a strong person." It is a philosophy embodied by Whiteland High School senior Amanda Rakow, who received the Award of Courage during the luncheon at Conseco Fieldhouse, which was hosted by the National Federation of High School Associations. About 380 athletes, coaches and administrators attended the event.
During her keynote address, Comaneci, 44, spoke about her experiences as an Olympian, earning the first perfect 10 and the importance of sports. "While I was learning to keep my balance on the beam, I was learning to keep my balance in life," Comaneci said. "Sports are the best arena to get tools that will help you succeed in life."

[Feb 16] National Girls and Women in Sports Day luncheon
When: 11:30 a.m. today. • Where: Conseco Fieldhouse Pavilion. • What: A nationwide celebration of female sports pioneers and participants. The celebration began in 1987 in remembrance of the late Olympic volleyball great Flo Hyman. The local observance is staged by the National Federation of State High School Associations. • Who: Former Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci will be the keynote speaker. Several awards honoring Indiana girls and women will be presented.

[Feb 16] Texas Sports Hall of Fame
WACO - On or off the court, Zina Garrison quickly learned she would always be in the spotlight. The former tennis star and Houston native was among the eight inductees at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame honored at Baylor University's Ferrell Center on Wednesday night.
Gymnastics coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi, who live on a ranch near New Waverly, also made the class. In receiving the honor, the Karolyis, who defected from Romania in 1981, expressed great admiration for the city and state they adopted 25 years ago. "When we came to the United States, we had to fight through lots of obstacles," Bela Karolyi said. "Finally, someone said come to Texas, and that's the place I dreamed of being because of the great John Wayne. The warmth and welcome of Houston has been very pleasing."

Nadia Comaneci will be honored at Sports Legends Awards
Jockey Alex Solis is among seven athletes to be honored at the 15th annual Sports Legends Awards, presented by the Paralysis Project of America at a ceremony to be held Feb. 25 at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles. Solis will receive an award along with gymnastic greats Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, pro football's Willie Davis and two leading American Olympic stars, the swimmer Donna de Verona and volleyball's Karch Kiraly.

[Feb 16] For a few days, Games let us all soar a little higher
It was the summer of 1976, and I was an eager 7-year-old fascinated by the slight Romanian girl twice my age who could fly, flip, twist and stick her landings with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. As she flew through the air, my heart flew with her, hoping she wouldn't fall off the balance beam, miss an uneven bar or overstep during the sweeping floor exercise. She rarely did. Nadia Comaneci remains arguably one of the best-known Olympic athletes in modern times. In 1976, the disciplined 14-year-old, under the rigid tutelage of coach Bela Karolyi, became the first Olympic gymnast to receive a perfect score of 10, a feat she performed seven times. She also earned three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal. She was a star.

[Feb 15] American Cup 2006: Razvan Selariu, the only Romanian gymnast
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Feb. 15, 2006 – Olympic champions Elena Zamolodchikova of Russia and Hisashi Mizutori of Japan headline the impressive roster of international gymnasts who have accepted invitations to compete in the 2006 American Cup, March 4, at Temple University's Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.. Razvan Selariu is the only Romanian gymnast to compete..

Forced gymnastics, used as a torture method by communists
"The frog," a variation of this last method, was used by Romanian Communists to break down the resistance of young Christian rebels sent to re-education camps. In his memoir The Anti-Humans, Romanian anti-Communist Dumitru Bacu (a pseudonym) writes of how "the frog" was used in the "cycle of tortures" employed against those deemed to be "fanatics" in their resistance to the new regime. "One of the tests for the fanatical students was forced gymnastics, especially the semi-squat or `frog,'" writes Bacu.

Immigrants have torn loyalties for Winter Olympics
Although they live in America, three local residents root, at least a little bit, for their home teams.
...Another European immigrant living in the Rock River Valley, 20-year-old Ana-Maria Iancu, speaks English without a hint of her roots in Romania and declares herself “very interested in the Olympics.”
Iancu, a student at RVC and a bartender-waitress at Octane InterLounge in downtown Rockford, has had athletic dreams of her own. “I started gymnastics when I was 4 years old in Romania,” she says. “I always dreamed of performing in Cirque du Soleil,” a traveling company of professional gymnasts, tumblers and circus acts. As for her loyalties in the Olympics, Iancu admits to at least a bit of conflict. “I’m a proud Romanian and a proud American,” she says. “But yes, a lot of my heart belongs to where I came from.” She says she’d be “very torn” in the event of a matchup between athletes from Romania and the United States. “I’d like to think I’d be rooting for whichever team is the better,” she says. “But I don’t know. In my heart, I support the people from Romania, but I also support America.”

[Feb 13] Romanian Gymnastics, the "Sunday Mirror" and Michael Duffy
Michael Duffy had a great story to tell. He told it cheaply in the Sunday Mirror's article "Gymnasty" published on 12th February 2006. Trevor Low, Editor of "The Gymnast" Magazine comments.

Romanian gymnastics fans comments over (stupid) Sunday Mirror article
Daily Mirror: "With tiny wrists, thin legs and her hair in girlish braids, I assume she's no older than eight, or possibly nine. "
Coach Forminte reply: "British journalist had picked (for his story) up the smallest girl from the team, the last one from the line; our team Star, Sandra Izbasa, has 1,62m and 50 kg".
r-g.com: one (known) secret of Romanian gymnastics is selection: at the club selections, smallest girls are encouraged; children have to bring their parents at first selection; coaches use to look at the parents: if they are small, that's a good sign for the girl future, she may be small, too. Usually, each team has 1-2 small girl, like Oana Ban at Athens.
Daily Mirror: "Alexandra Ghita endures 35 hours of grueling training a week with a single goal in mind - winning a medal for her country in the 2012 Olympics".
r-g.com: Alexandra is training for Beijing Games, not for London games.If such a *journalist* travel thousands of miles to Deva and don't know what girls are training for, it speaks for itself about his "skills".Lack of them.

Related story: Gymnastics fans comments over (stupid) Belgian/SID article
SID: The Romanian gymnasts are not competitive anymore

[Feb 12] Sunday Mirror / UK / GYMNASTY?
By Patrick Hannagan
They are both 14. One is a normal sized gymnast from Britain, the other a Romanian, who is so lean her growth is stunted and she hasn't yet reached puberty. But her mum is happy, the harsh regime is the only way she can fulfill her dream.. to win Olympic Gold in 2012
...THE girl in front of me stands no higher than my waist. With tiny wrists, thin legs and her hair in girlish braids, I assume she's no older than eight, or possibly nine. I'm shocked to be told that the youngster shuffling self-consciously as we are introduced is in fact 14. Romanian gymnast Alexandra Ghita endures 35 hours of gruelling training a week with a single goal in mind - winning a medal for her country in the 2012 Olympics.

Intrigue at Summer Olympics
The only time skullduggery occurs in the Summer Games is either when someone gets busted for using a performance enhancing drug (usually an asthma inhaler) or the Romanian judge shafts an American gymnast with an unfairly low score on the balance beam.In case you forgot, here’s the abridged version:Nancy gets clubbed in the leg by mysterious man at U.S. trials...

Romania's makeover strategy
[Editor note: I was surprised to see some self-called "experts" saying that Nadia is not a world recognized name. These morons should not be given any Governmental advertising contract, because their stupid remarks speak for itself about their lack of knowledge. Even in Alaska, on a whale-whach tour or salmon fishing trip, you can met local natives which still remember Nadia]
“We deceive ourselves that Nadia Comaneci meant something to the world and that everyone knows Hagi,” says Bogdan Naumovici- creative director (!) of Leo Burnett Romania. “I don’t know how many people know Nadia Comaneci or Hagi,” he says. “There are names in the sport world, but I don’t think they will be a legend for ever. Dracula has chances of living forever because it is already a legend.”-Ovidiu Iuliu Marian, President (!) of the National Authority for Tourism.  

[Feb 11] Bay Boy "ZECE" : That Name Might Not Rate Any Back Flips
Gold-medal gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner announced this week that they're expecting a baby, a boy, due in July. It's the first child for Comaneci, 44, and Conner, who turns 48 next month. Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, suggesting a name for the baby, wrote: "What could be more perfect than Ten?"

[Feb 11] Long way down from the diving board
The sequel came a day or so afterwards. It involved a tiny Romanian gymnast - Andreea Raducan, 16, with a ponytail and a grin brighter than the TV lights. She was a star, her country's first Olympic champion in the all-around event since the legendary Nadia Comaneci in 1976. I'd seen her complete her final routine. She strutted. She spun. She smiled and punched the air. She struck gold. Then failed a drug test because of illegal medication.
The next time I saw Raducan she was a tiny, stony-faced figure going into an appeals hearing surrounded by much older men including Ion Tiriac, one-time Svengali to tennis prodigy Boris Becker. The appeal was unsuccessful. Raducan's medal was forfeited. A teenager had been forced through an emotional wringer. And, more than ever before, women's gymnastics seemed perilously close to child abuse.

[Feb 11] Gymnastics coach in Downey sentenced for videotaping girls
DOWNEY, Calif. A high school girls gymnastics coach in Downey has been sentenced to nearly a year in prison for secretly videotaping girls in a dressing room. One of the girls found the camera while changing clothes. Anthony Vankirk could have received up to 16 months in prison, but he received a lighter sentence after pleading no contest in November to a felony count of eavesdropping and two misdemeanor counts of child molestation. Vankirk was given credit for time served, in which he underwent three months of psychological exams, and was released. Downey Superior Court Commissioner Burt Barnett placed him on three years probation and ordered him to register as a sex offender.

In Romania, every little girl’s dream is to become a gymnast.
When John Carroll University student Dominique Moceanu’s parents immigrated from there, they brought that dream to the U.S. with them. It was the beginning of a journey that would take their daughter straight to the gold medal. Moceanu’s gymnastics career began when she was just three years old. Within a few years she knew gymnastics was the thing for her. "By the time I was eight or nine, I was in the gym for about 12 hours a day," Moceanu said. "My mom had to pull me out."
...Moceanu worked hard and made sacrifices to achieve her Olympic dream, and she encourages others to do the same. She said that working toward the Olympics is a long journey that requires a lot of work. Her words of advice: "Don’t forget the journey because it is just as important as the success."

[Feb 10] Left-Wing Monster: Ceausescu
...Elena Ceausescu, aka Lenuta, (née Petrescu, on January 7, 1919 into a peasant family in the small village of Petresti, near Bucharest), failed all her subjects in elementary school—except for needlework, singing and... gymnastics—and left it before fourth grade to work in the fields with her father.In the mid-1930s Elena moved to Bucharest, where she found work as a janitor in a chemical lab, before going on to an unskilled job at a textile factory. She married Nicolae Ceausescu in 1945, and after the Communists seized power she was awarded a sinecure as a secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[Feb 10] Baby Boy "ZECE" * made the News around the World
Gold in '24
"Stockton Record", CA, USA/ Gymnasts Nadia Comaneci (nine Olympic medals) and Bart Conner (two gold medals) are expecting their first baby in July. That should make the 2024 Games worth watching.

Gold-medal
Oakland Tribune, USA / gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner announced they're expecting a baby, a boy due in July. It's the first child for Comaneci, 44, and Conner, who turns 48 next month.

Nadia in the family way
"The Telegraph"/ Calcutta, India/ Bucharest: Nadia Comaneci, who created Olympic history by becoming the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the 1976 Games in Montreal, is expecting a baby boy, a Romanian newspaper said on Thursday. “I’m extremely happy,” a local daily quoted Comaneci as saying. “My life and my husband’s life (former American Olympic gymnast Bart Conner) are now complete.” Comaneci, 44, who is due to give birth in July, won five Olympic gold medals at the 1976 and 1980 Games.
(*):  #@%$& , Nelli!

[Feb. 10] Catalina Ponor is training for a Gold medal at Euros
Bucharest / TVR1aired story. "Catalina Ponor gave up thinking about parties and discos...because she is no more under constraint, even if at Bucharest there are far more temptations than in her hometown Constanta. Coach Matei Stanei let Catalina Ponor to spend her free time at her own will; despite this, Catalina Ponor thinks only about training for European Championships, where she want to get the Gold medal at Balance Beam."- said the TVR1
"I don't want to offend Mr. (Octavian) Belu and Mrs Mariana (Bitang), but now I have more freedom than before...so there aren't so many temptations (of "forbidden fruit" meaning). If I want to go somewhere I just have to tell to my coach, Mr. Matei, that I go and return when I promise. He just tell me "OK, take care, I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Go, Cata!
To see Catalina Ponor in her best body shape since Athens and in her best attitude since...going to Deva, click here to see the TVR1 story (link valid one week only, go to min 26:12).

Next Birthdays:
11:Lavinia Agache, Cristina Grigoras, Lenuta Rus
12:Dana Sofronie, Dumitrita Turner
13 :Olimpia Popa

[Feb 9] Romanian gymnastics at American Cup
 Razvan Selariu   is the only Romanian gymnast who will attend American Cup this year, according to the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.

[Feb 8] Miami Herald/ Tumble of joy
Olympic gold-medal gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner announced Tuesday they're expecting a baby, a boy due in July. It's the first child for Comaneci, 44, and Conner, who turns 48 next month.

[Feb 8] AP/ Bucharest Daily News/ Nadia Comaneci expects her first child

[Feb 8] Nadia's Baby Boy: who would be the Godfather?
According to the Romanian tradition, the Godfather of the parents need to be involved into child baptization, too. Nadia and Bart Godfather is Mr. Adrian Nastase , former leader of the neo-communist party which lost the November 2004 elections (Thanks, God!).
A Romanian news agency has announced today that former coach Octavian Belu (now being a Presidential counselor) said that "he would love" to be the Godfather of the Bay Boy. He probably couldn't say "he and Mrs. Cruella", because it seems like she is still married and can't act as a couple with Belu in a religious ceremony. Despite someone's still trying to make them favors or carrying their overnight piss pot, you can't act against religious traditions (still strong in Romania) because this mean bad luck for the new born.The baby boy need a couple (a real, traditional one) to be his Godparents, and not a guy who likes publicity.

[Feb 8] Quote of the Day?...
Nadia having a baby boy: Romanian gymnastics fans comments
Congrats to them. I think they should call the little guy "Zece" (which of course is "Ten" in Romanian)
(pixie)

more Romanian gymnastics fans opinions, click here....


[Feb 8] The News of The Year? Would 2006 be "Comaneci Year?"
Nadia having a baby will make the first page on most newspapers around the world, tomorrow. Excerpts from fans comments around the world, to be included later today. Cinsidering the Montreal 1976 celebration, we may consider the 2006 as "The Comaneci Year".

[Feb 7] Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner Expecting First Child
AP/ The United States could have a ringer for the 2024 Olympics. Gold-medal gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner announced Tuesday they're expecting a baby, a boy due in July. It's the first child for Comaneci, 44, and Conner, who turns 48 next month. "It's a new chapter in our lives. I'm happy," Comaneci told The Associated Press. "It kind of makes my life and Bart's life and our family's lives complete."The birth of their child will come 10 years after Comaneci and Conner were married, and 30 years after Comaneci scored the first perfect 10 in Olympic history. Her seven perfect 10s at the Montreal Games captivated the world, and she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Newsweek and Time in the same week. She won nine medals at the Montreal and Moscow Games, five of them gold. Conner was a double gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics.
Related...somehow [April 1st] Nadia Comaneci will have three daughters!

[Feb 2] Police search East Rochester gymnastics studio
Classes and meets at Penev's Gymnastics in East Rochester were cancelled on Thursday so police could search for evidence in a rape case. The former owner, Marian Penev, is charged with rape and sexual abuse. Police say the 39-year-old instructor used the internet to lure a 13-year-old student into a sexual relationship. Police told NEWS 10NBC the acts happened at the gym. Video news from NEW S10NBC on Penev Gymnastics case , click here

[Feb 2] Teodora Ungureanu is visiting Romania...
Sources (well informed) from the Romanian sports movement told to romanian-gymnastics.com today that Teodora Ungureanu is visiting Bucharest these days.

[Feb. 2] Nadia Comaneci, a "Wise counselor" for Romanian sports
During a live show this evening at "Telesport", a Romanian all-sport channel,
Nadia Comaneci have agreed with former coach Octavian Belu (now acting as presidential Counselor) to become a member of the "The Wises Council". This council was created by former coaches Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang to help promote the interests of the Romanian sports among the political leaders. Belu, during a live phone discussion during the show, has asked Nadia Comaneci to become a member and she accepted.

[Feb 2] Coach's golden touch: Young gymnasts learn from Olympic champ
Standing alongside young gymnasts half her size is Daniela Silivas, the sprite from Romania who battled the Russian gymnastics machine in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and came away with six medals, three of them gold. In doing so, she tied Nadia Comaneci for the most perfect scores (seven). Silivas, now 33, could be earning more money at a big-name gym teaching elite gymnasts, but she prefers to coach regular little girls and spend time with her family. "To coach at a high level, to be competitive, the girls have to be in gym 35 hours a week," she said. "I've done that. It's over. I have a life outside gymnastics. And sometimes you have to be tough with the girls. I'm more like, 'Coach, my leg hurts.' 'OK, sit down and rest.' You can't do that at a high-level gym."
...Then a revolution came and the Romanian communist government was overthrown. The gymnastics center was closed.

[Feb 1] Gymnastics center owner ordered to give DNA samples
Monroe County Court Judge Elma Bellini on Tuesday ordered the owner of an East Rochester gymnastics center, who was charged with raping a 13-year-old female student Dec. 30, to submit DNA samples.
Prosecutors hope to admit the results as evidence in a possible trial of Marian Asenov Penev, 39, of Perinton, who faces two counts of second-degree rape, three counts of second-degree criminal sexual acts and one count of second-degree sexual abuse. The state case has yet to reach a grand jury, but late last week Penev was indicted on a federal charge of using the Internet to seduce the alleged victim.

[Feb 1] Gymnastics' new scoring system makes debut
The Winter Cup will have a different look this year. The annual ranking meet for the top U.S. male gymnasts begins Thursday in Las Vegas, and will be one of the first to use the sport's new, open-ended scoring system. Instead of 9.6s and 8.5s, get ready for 12.4s and 15.2s. "I think it's actually a good thing we're just jumping right into it," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "The speculation has been removed. Everybody's changing their routines. We have to move with the change if we're going to remain competitive."

[Feb 1] Graphic evidence in case of gymnastics coach charged with rape
The only way Youlia Penev has seen her husband lately is handcuffed and in custody. "It's been very hard," Youlia said Tuesday after a court proceeding. "But I have to keep working hard. I'm going to fight to the end." Fight, she says, to keep their gymnastics school running. It's the same place where her husband, Marian, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

February Birthdays:
1:Ionela Loaies
4:Oana Petrovschi, Mariana Tudor
6:Alina Lazar, Gabriela Potorac
11:Lavinia Agache, Cristina Grigoras, Lenuta Rus
12:Dana Sofronie, Dumitrita Turner
13 :Olimpia Popa
17:Bianca Ferariu
19:Mirela Pasca, Alexandra Eremia
26:Andreea Soare

Liukin named to U.S. Women’s Team for 2006 American Cup
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.– 2005 world uneven bars and balance beam champion Nastia Liukin of Plano, Texas, has accepted an invitation to represent the United States in the 2006 American Cup, March 4, at Global Spectrum's Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia. Nine other women are attending the selection camp, Feb. 22-25, at the USA Gymnastics’ National Team Training Center in Huntsville, Texas, from which three will be invited to compete.In addition to the United States, the American Cup field is expected to feature gymnasts from Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Romania and Russia. Participating athletes will be announced closer to the event.

"The Secrets of a Gymnast" - the English edition- on Sale!
"The Secrets of a Gymnast" (the English edition) by Andrei Nourescu, is on sale now at CafePress (click to see). "The secrets of a Gymnast" (the Romanian language edition) was voted "The Book of The Year" by the Romanian Sport Press Association (2003).
...The coaches hardly tolerated any mistake, they had become irascible and agitated and they were punishing even the girls’ smallest mistakes. The only problem was that they couldn’t behave as they did at home, because all the trainings in Atlanta were open to the public and most of the time the gym was full. Thus they found an alternative solution for the usual slapping from Deva. “They would come close to us when we failed some element and put their hand on our shoulder like a father. Only that the hand would grab us by the muscle and tighten us very hard, that we almost burst into tears...

[Jan 19] Reuters: New Romania coach hopes to revive old glories
BUCHAREST: Nicolae Forminte has set his sights on reviving the former glories of Romanian gymnastics after a torrid year in which the national women's team disbanded and its long-time coaches resigned. Forminte was appointed last month to lead a team which is now a shadow of the side that brought home four gold medals from the 2004 Olympics in Athens, including the women's team title. He has none of the former leading lights and many of his charges are battling weight and health problems.
''I have 22 young girls in a new Romanian Olympic team, aiming at the Beijing Olympic Games,'' he told reporters. Only three of them, Sandra Izbasa, Steliana Nistor and Andreea Muntean, would be ready to compete at the European team championships in Volos, Greece, in April, he added.

Feature stories:
Oana Ban at sky, exclusive interview and photos
r-g.com: Hello, Oana , how are you?
Oana Ban: Very well, thanks. Just returned home from sky.
r-g.com: Did you went every day? How come you like going to sky?
Oana Ban: They teach us at University (sport University). I go almost every day, when the weather is good.
r-g.com: Where do you go for sky?
Oana Ban: At Baisoara, a small mountain resort 40 miles (60km) nearby Cluj.

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