Name:VIERU Nicolae
Nickname:
Date of Birth:21-Apr-1932
Place of Birth: Buhusi, Bacau County
Hometown:Bucharest (ROM)
Gender:Male
Height:
Weight:
Marital Status:single
Children:none
Profession:Prof. Physical Education
Education
1946-1951 - "Mihai Viteazul" High School, Bucharest
1953-1957 - Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Bucharest
Career
1962-1965- Sport Professor (gymnastics) at the Sportive High School Nr.37 (presently "Emil Racovita"), Bucharest and trainer for CSS "Triumf" and the national gymnastics team
1965-1967- federal trainer for male gymnastics
1967-1983- general secretary of the Romanian Federation of Gymnastics
1980-2004- Vice President and First Vice President (the last three mandates, and since November 1999, the fourth mandate) of the World Gymnastics Federation (WGF)
1991-1999, 2000- President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation
since November 1997 - President of the Commission entrusted to elaborate the training programs for the whole World Gymnastics Federation
since November 1997 - President of WGF Trainees' Academy
Prizes
1947- First place at the First National School Championship of Gymnastics 1953- First place at the National Academic Championship of Gymnastics (Arad)
General Interest Physical educator and sport teacher, Nicolae VIERU graduated the Physical Education and Sport Academy of Bucharest. He is a former gymnast.
In 1949 - 1950, he becomes Scholar National Champion. Member of the Romanian Gymnastics Team, he takes part at several internationl competitions. In 1953, he wins the national title at the University Games of Romanian and is member of the National Team until 1956. He retired from competition and became very active on administrative level in the national federation.
From 1957 to 1962, he teaches gymnastics at the Gymnastics Highschool of Bucharest. In 1961 and until 1967, he becomes men's national teams and federal coach. From 1967 to 1983, he is the Secretary General of the Romanian Federation and is elected President in 1989. Today, Nicolae VIERU is still a the lead of the Federation.
Romanian President Ion Iliescu decided to honor RGF President Nicolae Vieru back in March 2002, by awarding him a national medal of honor for “Faithful Service as Knight”.
The timing of the award was explained by Vieru’s upcoming 70th birthday, on April 21st. Other official reasons listed include “the long and fruitful activity as RGF leader, and everything he’s done to promote the sport, as a coach and international judge.”
------------------------------
2002: ROC Secretary Dan Popper believes rewarding Vieru was a huge mistake. "Ion Iliescu has some irresponsible and incompetent presidential advisors. Nicolae Vieru did a lot of good things for Romanian sports, but this wasn’t the right time to congratulate him. Our State Leader was thrown to the press by his advisors. You don’t hand out medals of honor to someone who’s in the midst of a scandal,” concluded Popper. He was reffering to the age fraud scandal, which has occured in Romanian press in March 2002.
The National Order for faithful Service includes 5 categories –Knight, Officer, Commander, Ranking Officer, and Big Cross, ranging from the least important to the highest honor. This means Vieru has received the same medal of honor as track & field stars Violeta Szekely and Lidia Simon, and men’s gymnastics team head coach Dan Grecu.
--------------------------------------
The scandal of Corina Ungureanu posing in Playboy (she just opened the doors to others, too):
After she posed for Playboy, the Romanian National team members refused to share the same stage with her. The RGF specifically took her off the list of the country's top 10 gymnasts, even though she was the 1997 World Champion, because she posed for Playboy (1999). The Romanian Gymnastic Federation refused to pay her a bonus, saying she got enough money from Playboy.
Nicolae Vieru said: 'Why offer her an award, hasn't she already been sufficiently paid by Playboy?' Nicolae Vieru, the president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation was fired by Romania's sports minister Crin Antonescu for refusing to pay Corina because she posed nude in Playboy. Vieru did come back later as a not-payed President of RGF.
----------------------------
Romanian Gymnastics News Archive, click here...
|