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[Jan 28] "The
Secrets of a Gymnast" - the English edition- released!
 "The
Secrets of a Gymnast" (the English edition) by Andrei
Nourescu, is available 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).
Hello!
I want to know where I can find the book "Alexandra
Marinescu's secrets" or something.
Also, if you read it, what is your opinion on it?
Katy, USA
Instead of my opinion on this book,
let's see some facts:
a) The Romanian
Sport Press Association have awarded the author, Andrei
Nourescu , with the special prize "Victor Banciulescu
Award for sport books"-he got 101 votes, the second journalist
got only 78 votes. (Details
here). I think you all agree with me that the (respected)
members of the professional organization of sport writers
in Romania knows better than anybody else to whom (author)
and what (book) they give their most important prize. It's
like the best professional guarantee from true specialists
that this book deserve a reading.
Book
of the Year in 2006 -see our Awards
b) One of the most respected TV sport journalists in Romania,
Cristian
Topescu (he is now the director of Prosport) has his own
website
"dedicated to the young journalists which promote the
fair play as a life style".
The author of the book "The secrets of the gymnast"
have a special
page (very, very positive one) on this website dedicated
to fair-play. They also mention that many other journalist
took their eyes to other directions (meaning they didn't have
the guts to write even about the book, not to mention they
didn't bother or have the guts to write about those facts).
The book "The
secrets of the gymnast" by Andrei Nourescu was
written (in late stages), during the 2002 faking ages scandal;
looks like this event gave the author an encouragement to
go even deeper as he initially planned. Once the dam is broken,
a lot of water will go down...To protect himself and the gymnast
from a lawsuit (in a country which still struggle to get a
fair justice system, once controlled by the neo-communists
which dictates or influence the verdicts), the author has
decided to introduce the book like a fiction book, with names
slightly changed; this gave Belu an excuse to say, each time
asked by the press "the book is fiction, as the author
have indicated". You may consider this a small price
to pay to have the book published at all.
To my best knowledge, including direct reports from (many)
former gymnasts, all the basic facts from that book (physical
and mental abuses, children starvation instead of diets with
medical supervision, faking the ages of the gymnasts to gain
unfair advantages over competitors-and by this causing serious
medical problems for the gymnasts) are true. This was, in
fact, the "Secret Basic Recipe" of those who pretend
to be "The Gods" of Romanian Gymnastics. After reading
few pages from this book, you may think like me: My God, how
this could happen?
We have to know the past, to prevent such things happening
in the future. My (step) grandfather was a WW2 survivor from
Auschwitz. His first hand experiences & stories which
he told to me, made me read tons of books about the subject.
"Doctor" Mengele made some medical "tests"
at Auschwitz, including leaving prisoners without any water
for days (to test on prisoners how long a Nazi pilot dropped
in the sea would survive with no drinking water). Very bad
what he did, but he used at least the excuse that they could
save lives if they get more knowledge on this subject.
When I first read about a gymnast (Marinescu) being locked
by Octavian Belu for 3 days, in a room with no water (to "prevent"
her getting weight), my first thought went directly to the
..."Dr."Mengele. He did the same.
He (Mengele) could do this also because nobody have had the
guts to reveal the truth on time and stop him. Because the
Nazi regime had used a huge Propaganda machine to stop the
real inside info and spread only the lies they want.
The former Romanian neo-communist regime of Iliescu &comp
was the ONLY one in the World, after WW2, to have a "Ministry
of Information" -the same propaganda machine-alike as
Hitler has used to get & keep his power. Of course, kiss-in-the
ass journalists were used by both regimes, Nazi and neo-communists;
dictators (in politics or in sport) also likes them, they
make (their asses) feel soo good!
Using 60 millions Euros (like $ 70 millions dollars) from
State funds to pay "advertising" on TV and newspapers,
former Romanian neo-communists regime had managed to control
almost all the press (the dis-obenient ones didn't get funds
to survive in the poorest European country). This is why Romania
was left behind by all former communist countries in Eastern
Europe.
The
Wall of Shame:
Romanian gymnastics abusive coaches
From the book reviews:
"Fraud, violence, abuses with penal implications, here
are some allegations about the secret methods used in Romanian
gymnastics."-France Press Agency
"The book brings into light the unknown part of the glorious
Romanian gymnastics.Lice an iceberg who hides an ugly and
dangerous part.Revealings of a politics based on fraud and
violence."- FHM magazine"
"A gymnast who does not want any more to be silent. A reporter
who wants to tell the truth till the end. Find out the secrets
of the Romanian gymnastics. You will not leave the book from
your hands, guaranteed."- ELLE magazine
"The third book of Andrei Nourescu reveals the unknown
face of the glory in Romanian gymnastics, for which a lot
of children have been sacrified. Worldwide echos: HBO, LA
Times or Sports Ilustrated showd interest for the story."-
CAPITAL magazine
Here is an exclusive excerpt, obtained by romanian-gymnastics.com:
The tense trainings
...Even from the second day after the arrival to Atlanta,
the gymnasts started their trainings. As the first day of
the contest was coming, the trainings were more and more difficult
and tense. 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. Nobody could see that, because
from the distance you could only see a coach staying with
his hand on a gymnast’s shoulder and giving her some advice.
In the evening, when we were undressing and looking in the
mirror, we were all frightened seeing the bruises on the shoulder”,
says Alexandra.
The coaches didn’t even yield at the girls, as they did in
Deva, they were cursing them in whisper. An American masseuse
noticed one day the bruises on the girls’ shoulders and he
asked them what it had happened to them. Embarrassed by the
truth, the gymnasts pretended to … play some game and pinch
each other when they lose. Of course, the masseuse didn’t
buy it.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE CHILDHOOD
She was swimming at 4 years old · From swimming to gymnastics
· The first contests · She said “No” to Steaua………………………………………………17
LEADER AT THE JUNIORS TEAM
Unemployed father · Separation from her parents · Many restrictions
and less school · The first beating · The farce of the coaches
· The escape · The magic lightning · The Fraud · Friends with
football players · The chance named William · Cakes from the
“enemy” · The victory of vanity · A film character · The absurd
threatening · No commission · The inspiring with guilt · Booze
and women · The ice-cream machine · The leg fracture · They
took out her gypsum!……………………………………………..................................................23
SABAE’95, THE FIRST WORLD CHAMPION TITLE
The meeting with Bela Karoly · The first “real money”- dollars
· The kitchen from their rooms · Aexandra’s friendships………………….……...............……52
THE DREAM CALLED “AMERICA”
The mirage beyond the Ocean · The Little Olympiad Nadia Comaneci’s
visit · Missing the Europeans · Leaving to Deva………………………………....……59
DEVA.THE EPICENTER OF GYMNASTICS
She went alone · The first impression · The stress of the
colleagues · The legend about vomiting · Sequestered in the
room · The paradise from the Caribbean · The European Championships
in Birmingham · Karim, the mysterious fan · The pressure before
the fight · The secret relation…......…..66 THE OLYMPIAD
IN ATLANTA ’96, THE APOGEE OF PAIN
False promises · Crowd, dog days and queues · They were accommodated
in a tower block · The obsession of the alarms · The tense
trainings · The proposal · The first attempt · Ana Rusan’s
trouble · The opening festivity · The first day of contest
· The heroine of America · Tears for bronze · The replacement
· Close to Bill Clinton · The bomb attempt · Calling home
· The last day, the inferno · Milo’s comfort · The beautiful
girl on the cover · Tears and Macarena · Finally, the holyday!….................................................................................….…84
THE POST-OLYMPIC PERIOD
Awards, money and ceremonies · Athletics, not gymnastics ·
About faith, luck and reality · Again in contest · Christmas
in the mountains · Money for the coaches · The fatidical accident
· Superficial control · Shanghai chicken · Corina’s beating
· “I will never forget that day!” · The first romantic affair……..................................................................................................................113
THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, LAUSANNE 1997
Useless acupuncture · The miracle happened: gold with the
team! · The last phases: the injections · Farewell, title
· The false smile…………........……….135
ON THE EDGE BETWEEN GYMNASTICS AND TORTURE
Coming back to Deva · Is Penu leaving? · The truth · They
confiscated their phones · Stories again…· The more checkings,
the more diagnosis · The recovery programme · The ray of hope
· Stoiciu’s cynicism ……………....………………………...................................................................…146
AFTER THE SEPARATION FROM THE ROMANIAN TEAM
Moved away from the hostel · The first day of school · A new
house · The modelling career · The cancelling · The first
love · A probing year….........…160
THE CALVARY OF THE OPERATIONS
Coming back to Bucharest · Back to the doctor · The first
operation · The damned sneeze · The third operation · Finally,
the normal life……………….169 2002. THE SCANDAL “FAKE PASSPORTS”
The first explosion · Gina Corbean was next · Alexandra Mateescu,
Disclosure number 3 · Another proved case.The fourth · They
have compromised the health of the children …………………......................................................…...…179
Some Romanian Gymnastics fans opinions:
I loved watching Alexandra Marinescu. I remember that Belu
didn't seem to like her very much, and he felt she was "lazy."
She had trained at a different gym than the others on the
Romanin team, and had a different style. She was very talented
and had beautiful style. She replaced Lavinia Milosovici on
beam at EF at the 96 Olympic games. She did not do well and
had two falls. After the routine she walked over to Belu,
and I remember he scowled at her then turned his back and
walked away. She looked so tiny and helpless at that moment.
I felt Belu could have been a bit more compassionate with
such a young athlete. I heard she wrote a book about her life
as a gymnast, and she had some unflattering statments about
the Romanian system. She may have the first Romanian gymnasts
to speak out against Belu.....
Jesonni
-----------------
Well, I admire her, it certainly takes a lot of gutts to
speak up and say what she said about Belu's coaching.
mexgymgrly
------------------
I read a little portion they have of Alexandra's
book and it is not for the faint hearted. My own personal
assumptions were right. She was under age when she competed
at the OG and WC. But the level of abuse gave me upset stomach.
ottley
----------------------
It's so sad what goes on behind closed doors. You've got
to wonder how could they do such a thing! Belu sounds like
a monster and Bitang sounds like a half decent person in that
article.
SuperFantasticGymnasticsChick
--------------
There have been several reports of abuse from former Romanian
gymnasts. I'm not saying that it never happened, but reports
from a gymnast who was obviously out of favour with Belu (probably
because she trained at a different gym) would likely be worse
than those from gymnasts who were his favourites. Maybe that's
because he treated his favourites better, or it could just
be that those gymnasts who weren't given the chances are more
bitter about their experiences. I think that Belu made a mistake
with Alexandra. She really stood out, and would have been
great for the Romanian team.
Philippa
-----------------------
I had trouble sleeping last night after reading a portion
of Alexandra
Marenescu's book, Alexandra's Secrets. I am devastated
and my heart is broken. I believe Marenesu is disappointed
that she did not live up to the hype surrounding her. Similar
to Zmeskal at the 92 OG. But this account is not about belly
aching. Warning! This is not for the faint hearted.
ottley
---------------
I heard things were very bad under Karolyi but I had no
idea that Belu was supposed to be as bad. What's astonishing
is that these allegations of abuse happened after the
fall of Communism.
WhatKatyDidNext
The Wall
of Shame:
Romanian gymnastics abusive coaches
Romanian Gymnastics News Archive.
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