Gymnasts from Romania

Simona Amanar

Simona is, in my opinion, the most powerful gymnast competing in gymnastics in the world today. Her silver medal winning floor excerise at the Olympic Games contained four of the most difficult tumbling passes ever performed - double layout, 2 1/2 twist-punch front, triple twist, and full twisting double back. Most gymnasts only include two or three, at the most, of these passes. She also won the gold medal on vault with a great double twisting yurchenko. Her bars and beam routines, though, are a little dull. She does get great height on her dismounts and often over-rotates, which leads me to believe that she could easily add a full twist to both. What impresses me about her (and teammate Gogean) on bars is their 1 1/2 pirouette on the high bar. Many gymnasts do this skill but few manage to stay completely in handstand throughout the twists like Simona and Gina do.

I think that Simona has been very underrated throughout the last few years. She came second all-around at the 1994 European Championships and won silver and gold medals on vault in the 1995 and 1996 World Championships respectively. She was one of the most successful female gymnasts at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, winning three individual medals and a team bronze. The only others to win more than one individual medal were all-around champion Liliya Podkopayeva and teammate Gina Gogean. Simona also helped the Romanian team to win the bronze medal in the team competition - a position that will always be questioned, making her, tied with teammate Gogean, the leader among all medal winners in womens' gymnastics at the Games.

To find out more about Simona, visit the Simona Amanar home page!

Gina Gogean

There has been a whole lot of debate on the gymanstics mailing list lately about Gina. A lot of people find her boring and undeserving of the medals she wins. These critics say that she does the minimum amount of difficulty that will give her a high start value under the code of points and doesn't do her skills well. Others say that she isn't artistic enough - that she doesn't show any emotions and never smiles. Think about it - do all gymnasts smile all the time. I can think of many including Elena Piskoun and Dina Kotchetkova who I've rarlely seen a smile from. It doesn't mean she's not enjoying herself. Every gymnast expresses herself differently.

I disagree about all these negative comments. The code of points is there for a reason. How a gymnast and her coach chose to interpret it is their problem. Gina isn't one of my favourites but I can appreciate her work for what it is. Her routines aren't spectacular but they are solid and consistent. She has been one of the best vaulters in the world for the past three or four years, winning two (?) world titles and the Olympic silver medal on that event. She has also had a lot of success on floor exercise, winning medals in the 1995 and 96 world championships. Many people don't realize how successful Gina was at the Olympics. She won a silver medal in the all-around, bronze on vault, and silver on beam. Added to her team bronze that gives her four medals!

The photo above is property of Debbie Poe at the Gymn Forum.

To find out more about Gina, vist the Gina Gogean Homepage.

Alexandra Marinescu

Well, I don't have much of an opinion about this gymnast. Apprently she was the Moceanu of Europe before the Olympics, with the media hyping her for the all-around gold. Of course, you all know the story. Marinescu qualified to compete in the all-around final but Octavian Belu, the Romanian team coach, decided to replace her with Amanar. Amanar went on to win a bronze medal. This, of course, was very contraversial. We can debate this until pigs fly but the point is that she didn't compete in the All-around. The wierd thing is that she made it and got replaced, and her American counterpart, Moceanu, didn't make it but replaced Strug.

Anyway, I can't say much about her routines, I only remember seeing her on beam. She doesn't train in Deva with most of the Romanian stars, which is why her routines look different from those of her teammates.

The photo above was provided by Lani Schea. To find out more about Alexandra, visit the Official Alexandra Marinescu Page.

Lavinia Milosovici

This is another gymnast that I used to really dislike. I don't even remember why. Like the rest of the Romanian team, the only spectacluar thing about Lavinia is her consistency. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Lavinia was 20 years old (my age). Most of her competitors were years younger and looked it. Despite these disadvantages, Lavinia tied for the bronze medal in the all-around competition - a phenominal achievement in gymnastics considering that she won the same colour medal in the all around four years earlier in Barcelona. With this achievement, Lavinia proved that gymnasts could be successful in the sport for longer than a few years. She proved that a gymnast can be as successful at 20 as she was at 16.

I recently heard that Lavinia has decided to retire from competitive gymnastics. It's a shame. Over the past year or two, as she and her competitors have gotten older, Lavinia hasn't slowed down like the rest. She's still as strong as she ever was.

To find out more about Lavinia, vist MiloNet.

Daniella Silivas

You know, when I watched this gymnast back in the 80s I absolutely hated her. In most cases, I feel much differently now than I did then, but not in this case. Don't get me wrong here, I don't hate her. I don't like her either. What bugs me the most is that fake smile she always had throughout her floor exercise. I know, you all think it's very natural looking. In some cases it's not bad, but look at her compulsory floor exercise at the 88 Olympics. It just doesn't look right. She always had great lines and form and originality at the time. I'm finding that in the 80s gymnasts showed a lot more originality than they do now. Maybe there's just not a lot of originality left to show. Just like Lavinia Milosovici, Daniella never won a World or Olympic AA title. She made up for it with spectacular results in event finals, winning three individual gold medals at the 1988 Olympic games in Soeul plus a host of other World Cup and World Championship medals.

To find out more about Daniella, visit Romania's Finest: Daniella Silivas - a Tribute.

Corina Ungeranu

I've only seen this gymnast in one meet so far but I am really impressed. At the International Team Championships this year NBC only showed her on bars and floor but they were both great routines. Even though she missed her piked Jeager on bars I was really impressed by her form and power. Her double front dismount was fabulous - hardly cowboyed at all. Her floor is probably one of the best routines I've seen from the Romanians in a long time. Her choreography is fantastic. I can't wait to see more of this gymnast, hopefully at Worlds. She will definietly be one of the Romanian stars in the future.

The photo above was also provided by Debbie Poe.