The secrets of a gymnast

[Amber]

Athletics, not gymnastics

The gymnast coming back to Deva was extremely hard on them. The long break, the lack of training meant losing muscle and coordination so the coaches focused on physical preparation building muscle and condition without touching the apparatus. They held several races to the Fortress of Deva which was located on a high hill.
"They made us run the route up the hill and we had to do it in a specific time. If we did not made it fast enough we had to do it again until we made the set time. Sometimes we ran this route 10 times per day. It was exhausting and we almost cried from tiredness but no one had the courage to give up out of fear of the coaches harsh punishment" says Alexandra. After a few weeks of this torture they finally went back to the gym and started working on the apparatus.

In competition again

• Alexandra first competition after the Olympic Games was the Cottbus grand prix in Germany. To her surprise the coaches Octavian Penu and Marilena Bismark decided not to go with her and left her with assistant coach Benone Slavuteanu. Alexandra was in a good but not great shape but felt more relaxed with Penu and Bismark there. The competition went fairly well except for vault, her most challenging event. In Bucharest, the president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, Nicolae Dulgheru, watched the competition on TC and immediately called the coach reproaching him for his gymnasts poor representation. Alexandra was determined to do better the next day. During training however Alexandra fell from the beam on her head. The whole gym went silent as paramedics rushed to her and immobilized her neck and took her to a separate room to assess her. "I could not feel anything and I could not move my head at all. I was really scared but gradually the immobility disappeared and I recovered and I was able to compete on the second day" Alexandra remembers.

Christmas in the mountains

• The gymnasts spent the winter holidays in a training camp in Poiana Brasov. They were not allowed to go home during Christmas, or new Years and their parents were not allowed to visit. Poiana Brasov is a mountain resort at more than 1000 meter altitude and there was a lot of snow in that period. The coaches made the gymnasts run many miles in the snow to improve their stamina. In the mornings they would run in the snow, and in the afternoon they spent time in the gym for conditioning and strength exercises. On Saturday afternoon they had a free afternoon and Alexandra decided she wanted to ski. She had never tried it before but she was not scared. She hired skies but had no idea how to use them. She found someone to help her and just started skiing down the mountain. She felt so free. "When I was catching speed I did not know how to stop so I just let myself fall in the snow" she remembers. The next Saturday a young office worker she had met taught her how to ski. The new year's eve party was pretty sad but the gymnasts were allowed to stay up and eat what they wanted. They did not really feel like partying though the coaches tried to cheer them up. It was maybe the only time in the year they tried to do this.

 

[Amber]

Deva Fortress

 

[Amber]

Money for the coaches

• The year 1997 was the year of the World championships in Lausanne. It was a very difficult year because the coaches wanted to show International supremacy and take revenge for the meager results at the 1996 Olympics. The training for the 1997 worlds started early, as did the qualification competitions. In the spring of 1997 Alexandra, together with team mate Ionela left for a tour in France. Again the main coaches decided to stay at home with the rest of the team, so they send Nicolae Berinde. The tour contained five demonstrations in five different cities. "It was extremely exhausting, one day we were performing, the next day we were on the road, we travelled by bus from one city to another, and they were not close together. The demonstration itself was not exhausting, it was not a competition and it felt good, relaxed". The good thing about the tour was the money. Every demonstration was awarded with $2000, plus the allowance for the whole week, another $2000, which means after the week was over, Alexandra had earned $12.000. The downside was that the gymnasts did not get to keep all of the money. There was an oral agreement, enforced by the coaches, that the gymnasts had to give them 30% of their earnings. The gymnasts and their parents did not agree, but what could they do? When she returned from France Alexandra honored the agreement and gave the coaches $3000. "The coaches were upset that I only gave them 30% of the earnings, without taking the allowance into consideration. They were very angry and I don't even want to think about what they said about me" Alexandra remembers. "I think the percentage was meant to make us feel small in front of the coaches. To create the impression that it was an honor for us to be coached by them, to believe that they were the real hero's and they were not compensated enough" Alexandra adds. The agreement did not seem fair to the gymnasts but they had to obey or they would not be send to demonstrations, competitions or tours that earned money.

The fatal accident

• Alexandra only knew about Forth Worth Texas because of the popular television series "Dallas". Her first impressions of the real city was amazing, it looked just like on television. She wondered if they would even meet J.R Ewing too. Alexandra travelled to Forth Worth for a competition together with teammate Dan. The atmosphere was relaxed as they were only accompanied by Slaveteanu. The competition went well though Alexandra was not yet in top shape. When she arrived home she learned that she had to travel to America again soon for a team competition between the USA, China and Romania. Training for the competition was going well, Alexandra was fit and ready to compete. Shortly before they left however, Alexandra injured herself on floor. While doing a tumbling run she felt a sharp sting in her back, close to her spinal column. She completed the pass then fell to the floor, unable to move. "I was in a lot of pain, I felt paralyzed and could hardly breath" she remembers. The coaches did not believe her and told her to go to her next event, vault. When it was her turn Alexandra felt like she could not do it and went to tell Penu that it seemed to be serious. He started shouting and he sent her to physical therapy immediately. The next day at training Penu had not calmed down at all. "He came into the gym and said my attitude was unacceptable, he was shouting and said I was not interested in the team's fate, that I only cared about myself and that I was doing that because I had taken a lot of money in France" says Alexandra. Penu did not believe that Alexandra injured her back, he kept insisting her to continue training and send her to the bars. Alexandra truly could not do it. "He just couldn't understand that I could barely walk, let alone do any kind of routine on any event. I was terrified that he would force me to go to America and compete there", Finally Alexandra was allowed to stay home and instead of going to America, she was send to get a medical check.

Superficial control

• Alexandra went to Bucharest to the Sportive medicine institute. The doctor's attitude was unsatisfactory leaving the impression that most of them had an agreement with the coaches and the officials to not look as close and give the gymnast permission to train. In fear of finding anything that might prevent her to train, the doctors hardly looked at her. "It was a routine control, very superficial after which the doctor told me that there was nothing wrong with my back and that I could go back to Deva and resume training. I was very surprised but at the time I did not suspect what was hiding behind this system. How could I have known the gymnasts had to compete by all means? Our main objective was to bring glory to the country, the rest did not matter. No matter what the risks the gymnasts were taking, the objective of medals had to be accomplished" says Alexandra.

Shanghai chicken

• After the Romanian team got back from America, Alexandra re-joined her teammates and slowly got back into the rhythm of training. Her back was still hurting a lot and the only thing she could do was swallow a handful of painkillers before every training session and wear a tight wrap around her back at all times. In July 1997, just a few weeks before the start of the World championships, Alexandra, together with three other gymnasts, and Octavian Penu, travelled to China for a competition in Shanghai. The first impression of China was shocking. "We did not like it at all, there was misery and poverty everywhere. We travelled by bus and only saw people on bikes, like cars just did not exist. People seemed miserable, just like Romanians were and the food was almost impossible to eat, the only food we like was Shanghai chicken and I remember that is what we ordered the whole week" Alexandra says. The same thing could be said about the training gym. The apparatus were very old and broken and they could hardly train their routines. Even though the conditions were poor, the Romanians competed well. Alexandra won the Balance Beam and Floor finals and Octavia Penu even praised her.

 

[Amber]

Corina's beating

• As worlds in Lausanne were getting closer, the coaches became more strict and nervous. They had frequent verifications which was exhausting and stressful. Penu certainly added to the stress by telling them every day that they were the worst generation he had even coached and that the Romanian team had never competed that badly. At the end of one of the training session, the girl prepared to leave after another tough verification and many repetitions. Corina Muresanu was still working on the beam. She fell a lot and so the coaches kept asking her to repeat the Rufolva skill. After a while Penu started to get involved and screamed and cussed at her. He grabbed her and started beating her, he was hitting her everywhere, as if she were an animal. Corina tried to get away from Penu and he send her back onto the beam to repeat the skill. When she failed Penu again came down on her and started beating her again. Alexandra felt very sorry for Corina and started crying. She witnessed Corina failing time and time again. Penu did not care about her suffering, he only knew one thing: the skill had to be perfect, anything else did not matter. At one of the repetitions Corina got so hurt that she started bleeding. The gymnasts who were still in the gym looked at the scene with tears in their eyes, none of them had the courage to tell Penu to stop hitting her. Marilena Bismark eventually stopped Penu when she saw Corina was bleeding, she interfered and send Corina to the bathroom to clean herself after which she and Penu left the gym.

"I will never forget that day"

• "When the coaches left the gym we all went to Corina. We didn't know what we could do for her and kept asking how we could help her. Alexandra remembered that she had a towel in her bag and brought it to Corina. While Corina cleaned up Alexandra waited for her so they could walk back to the hostel together. While walking back, Corina told Alex that she would never forget this horrible day. There are many voices saying that gymnastics is a sport which is done voluntarily. The gymnasts or their parents are not forced to participate. The question is however, are the sufferings worth it for a few medals? If the parents knew what their children would go through, would parents still take them to gymnastics?

Lausanne 1997

• Finally came the time to leave for the world championships. It was an extremely important competition where the coaches were hoping to take revenge for the meager results in Atlanta. To add to the pressure Penu stated to the press that this competition was going to be very difficult as Romania was represented by the weakest team he had ever coached. Alexandra did not pay attention to the coaches, she had goals and was very positive. She came from a very hard period and she felt her back was still vulnerable. The main reason was her landing for the beam dismount which was very hard on her back. She had told Marilena Bismark that he back was really hurting her and that her beam dismount aggravated it, but as usual she did not believe her and told her to continue. "I never understand why she kept me training the full in dismount. Even with a double back dismount my start value was still 10" Alexandra stated. From the first training in Lausanne Alexandra had sharp pains in her back and also in her ankle. At first she did not pay attention to the pain, figuring it was extra painful because she was tired, but the pain got worse. Alexandra did not feel the effect of the painkillers she took so she asked the doctor of the team to find other solutions to help with the pain. The doctor started massage and acupuncture therapy, which just like the painkillers, did not have much effect.

The miracle happened: gold with the team!

• On the day of the competition, Alexandra rubbed on all the numbing creams she had and took a handful of painkillers and tied her body up with bandages. She was determined to prove that she was not part of a "Second hand team". The sports palace in Lausanne is not a large venue and even on the first day of competition, the stands were packed. "Please God, make all the painkillers have effect for once" Alexandra prayed. She ignored the pain and competed very well, all her four scores counted towards the team total. In the team finals, the gymnasts were determined to prove Penu wrong, that he was not right to judge them so harshly. The competition started well for the Romanians, Alexandra had forgotten about the pain and was enjoying the attention of the crowd and the journalist who called her "the new Nadia". At the beginning of her floor routine the audience cheers for her and Alexandra relaxes but on her last tumbling pass her body reminds her that something is wrong and a sharp pain shoots through her leg, the pain makes her hesitate the landing, taking an additional step and losing her balance. Penu takes his hands to his head and explodes:" You fucking moron!" As she walks away from him she hears him utter many additional curses at her. Alexandra's low score on floor did not influence the results and Romania won the gold medal. When the results became official, the gymnasts and the coaches jumped in joy and celebrated the win. They all forgot about troubles, nerves and pains.

Injections

• The way back to the hotel was chaotic. There were celebration activities, interviews and a press conference. It had been a long time since Alexandra took her painkillers and the effect had disappeared completely. When she finally sat down in the bus that would bring them to the hotel, Alexandra felt the sharp stings in her back and ankle reappear. Because of her good qualifying competition, Alexandra qualified to the AA final. Alexandra felt that this was the chance of a lifetime and that she was able to become the World Champion. The only problem was the immense pain. "I told the doctor that I would do anything to compete, I would have given up everything to just compete in the AA finals. The doctor offered to give me injections with sedatives and I accepted that". Alexandra recalls. Every few hours Alexandra was injected with painkillers. She still lay awake at night as she knew that the choice to compete was not up to her. She worried that, like in Atlanta, the chance to compete would be taken away from her.

Farewell title

• As usual Alexandra woke up early on the day of the AA finals. She gets up quickly and moves around to see if the pain is still there, it was there but she felt a little better which put her in a positive mindset, she feels ready to compete. She goes to the bathroom to do her hair and make-up. There are still a few hours until the competition but she wants to be ready. She also starts to mentally prepare for her big moment. When she is applying her make-up there is a knock on the door. Alexandra wonders who it will be, not the coaches, they never knock but just walk right in. When she opens the door she sees Penu standing in the hallway. He walks into her room and starts talking to her very calmly "Alexandra, you will not compete today. You are not feeling too well and the federation decided to replace you with Simona Aurar. You are younger and you have all the time in the world to compete in another Worlds final. Don't be sad, your time will come". Penu ends in a joking tone. Alexandra feels like the whole earth is shaking. She sits down on the bed and hardly has the strength to answer "I feel good, I can compete without any problems" Alexandra tries. Penu repeats that the decision is not his, the federation decided and the change is already made, there is nothing he can do. Penu leaves the room and Alexandra starts crying. "I never imagined that they could be so cruel. They had made the decision a long time ago but up until the last moment they let me think that I would compete. I was devastated and could not even leave the room" Alexandra remembers. As in Atlanta, she watched the AA finals from the stands, tears in her eyes, knowing it should have been her on the competition floor. After the competition, Simone came to her to apologize but there was no need, it was not Simona's decision, she just did what she was ordered to do.

 

[Livi]

Reading this makes me realise Amanar has quite a few AA medals with an asterisk.
1996 Olympics
1997 Worlds
2000 Olympics (though a different story)

Not to take away anything from her achievements, all of these were beyond her control, but those gold, silver and bronze medals could've easily been just a silver (2000) if other decisions were made.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

I dont know that 96 or 97 are asterisks. The rules allowed for substitutions and Marinescu was underage.

2000 yes, is the asterisk to end all asterisks!

@Amber I missed the message about your health last month- hope you're now recovered.

 

[Amber]

The false smile

• Next were the apparatus finals. Alexandra qualified on bars but since the Romanian team did not have a great reputation on bars, there were no expectations. Alexandra did not win a medal and she was also not really focused, she was depressed and tried to understand why this kept happening to her. The way home was long and exhausting. Alexandra cried most of the way, none of her teammates dared to come close to her. Right before landing the coaches send the gymnasts to the toilet to do their make-up. When they arrived Alexandra felt like an actor, it did not matter how she felt, she was expected to smile and wave to her supporters, and be hugged and kissed by officials. She had to show how the new world champions were feeling. There were endless photo sessions and interviews, during it all Alexandra was expected to smile and appear happy. In the bus, after all the festivities, the dark mood returned. Alexandra went home for a few days off which did her a lot of good. "The pain in my back and ankle was gone and I hoped that everything would get back to normal" But it was not going to be like that at all, Alexandra's tragedy was just beginning.

Coming back to Deva

• Towards the end of September 1997, Alexandra returned to Deva to prepare for a new series of competitions that were well awarded with good money. The coaches were very aware that they needed to reap the benefits of their status as World champion, especially financially. The year 1998 was going to be a relaxed one as there were no Worlds, there were only two big competitions, the European Championships in St. Petersburg, and the Goodwill games in New York. Alexandra was still trying to get over her disappointment from Worlds and was hoping that a few good competitions would help that process. But even from the first day of training the pains returned, Alexandra went to the team doctor and asked him to help her. She told him about the pain shooting down her legs starting at the soles of her feet and going up to her hips. The doctor recommended to have her back x-rayed. He expected that the pain came from the spinal column. After many moths of pain it was the first time that her pain was taken seriously.

The truth

• Alexandra followed the doctors' advice and went to the hospital in Deva for x-rays of her spinal column. The doctors who watched the x-rays got pale when they saw the damage. "They did not like what they saw but they did not want to explain to me what was going on, they simply send me to another hospital in Hunedoara, which was a much better equipped hospital. Another day passed and I was very nervous. Finally coach Slaveteanu, team mate Mirela Turluban and me left to Hunedoara by car" Alexandra explains. "In the hospital I was treated by Dr. Stanescu and he seemed the first open and sincere doctor, who did not hide anything from me" says Alexandra. The doctor studied the x-rays with a frown on his face, turning the pictures and looking at them in every angle. Suddenly he looked at Alexandra and says: "Dear girl, what I see is not good at all. You have an old vertebrae fracture, and because you kept training the fracture was aggravated over and over again. It is a wonder nothing more happened to you. I do not want to scare you but if the fracture had worsened and the vertebrae had even moved a centimeter, there would have been paralysis. How could you stay like that and not say anything?" Alexandra thought to herself that she told the coaches many times about her back problems but nobody listened. "I cannot do anything for you here, you have to go to Bucharest to get it examined more thoroughly but in my opinion you need column surgery". The doctor told Alexandra. That were the last words to her by a doctor who finally told Alexandra the truth, unfortunately it happened a little late. Alexandra left the hospital dumbfounded, she did not know how to react, to be despaired? To be afraid? "I was not even crying, I was expecting it to be serious but I did not think I would need Column surgery. I told myself that everything would be OK" Alexandra remembers. When she was back in Deva she showed the coaches the diagnosis and the recommendations. Even with the results in their hands Penu and Bismark did not want to accept the seriousness of the situation. "He is exaggerating, it can't be that bad. You must go to Bucharest to the Sportive Medicine Institute, they have good specialists" the coaches said to her. They refused to accept the situation which did not bode well for Alexandra.

 

[RAFIKI]

I know nothing about Marinescu post Lausanne and not much post-Atlanta so this is fascinating and sad.

 

[Amber]

They confiscated their phones

• Alexandra was more and more despaired. She was worried about the uncertainty of her future. She did not know what to do and she also had nobody to talk to. She wanted to talk to her parents but she couldn't because the coaches had recently taken away their phones. Every gymnast bought a mobile phone to be able to call home more often and to be reachable for their parents, whom they only saw once per year. The coaches did not agree with that freedom and took away the phones, they could only use them on Sunday afternoon when they were free. It was another form of abuse the gymnasts had to take, nobody had enough courage to protest.

Stories again…

• Alexandra left for Bucharest with fear in her heart. On one hand she believed that she would receive a more sophisticated medical check and a more adequate treatment. On the other hand she was aware that she would be treated by the same doctors who would do anything to keep her in gymnastics, especially when the team needed her. At the hospital Alexandra went through every available medical check, it took two days before all tests were completed. At the end Alexandra waited in the hall of the hospital for a doctor to come and tell her what was going on. "They stayed in meetings for several hours, as if they had to vote on what diagnosis best to communicate to me" Alexandra recalls. "Finally they told me something about Schauerman's decease which, in fact, has nothing to do with gymnastics".

Scheuermann's disease (also known as Scheuermann's kyphosis) is a skeletal condition that causes vertebrae to grow unevenly during adolescence, forming a wedge shape instead of a rectangular one. This uneven growth leads to a rigid, hunched back (hyperkyphosis) and is typically diagnosed between ages 10 and 15

• "They gave me this diagnosis because it has nothing to do with gymnastics to avoid eventual accusations, such as the fact that the coaches and doctors negligence brought me in that position" After her career was over science proved that Alexandra did not, and had never suffered from Scheuerman's decease. Her spinal problems were caused by overtraining and being forced to continue training while injured.

The more checkings, the more diagnosis

• Alexandra was going to find out the cause of her spinal problems three years later. In the meantime she went to several doctors and had a lot of checks. Different doctors gave different diagnosis and treatments. The more accurate diagnosis came from a doctor not connected to gymnastcs, so to the Romanian Gymnastics Federation his opinion did not matter. Alexandra was forced to go back to Bucharest and accept the false diagnosis. She had to take a six-month break and wear a back brace. One of the non-gymnastics doctors diagnosed Alexandra with a broken back and warned her that she needed surgery to correct it or she might get paprlized. Alexandra kept thinking about this and with that, also kept thinking about retirement. She did not want to risk her ability to walk. "It was a very hard decision, gymnastics was all I could do. The coaches tried to convince me to continue as well" Though she was not sure, Alexandra made the decision to retire, eventhough she was still hoping she could return.

The recovery program

• Alexandra was allowed to remain in the hostel of the National team together with her team mates but her daily routine was radically changed. After breakfast with her teammates Alexandra went to the clinic of the team doctor for a few hours of thrapy and recovery. In the afternoon she went to the gym with her teammates but while they were training, Alexandra was just doing recovery excercises. Alexandra felt uncomfortable and isolated but she did not have a choice, though she was happy that she was still living together with her teammates.

 

[Snowfan]

So what would it have taken for her to tell her coaches no and actually retired? I mean if she said she was done and wanted quit what would they do to her?

 

[Amber]

The ray of hope

• One day Alexandra was called by her parents who told her that there was an article in the paper in which Nadia Comaneci stated that she wanted to take Alexandra to America for treatment and that she would pay for the travel, the treatment and if need be, the surgery. Alexandra got very excited and immediately went into town to buy the newspaper. When she read about Nadia's intentions, she burst into tears. She expected to be contacted by the federation to give her more details regarding the departure time. Days went by but nobody contacted Alexandra, a few days later she was called by her mother who was curious if she had any news regarding Nadia. "Unfortunately the federation and the coaches told me nothing. Probably it was an invention of the press" Alexandra told them although she was hoping it was different and that what she had read in the newspaper was real.

Stoiciu's cynism

• At the end of 1997 Alexandra and the team went to Bucharest for the annual sports awards. The gymnastics team was nominated for "Team iof the year". The gymnasts were very excited about the invitation to attend the awards ceremony. Nadia flew in for the ceremony and Alexandra hoped that she had the chance to talk to her and ask her if it was true that she intended to take Alexandra to America. At the festivity hall VIP's surrounded Nadia and Alexandra couldn't approach her until the awards ceremonies started. "I thought we would have time to talk after the ceremony as there was a party afterwards, as the ceremony went on my hopes were increasing. I don't even remember getting on the stage and receiving the award, I was so focused on talking to Nadia and the opportunity she could give me". During a break in the festivities, Alexandra stood next to gymnastics federation president Andrei Stoiciu when Nadia approached him and asked him: "Andrei, what are we going to do about Alexandra, when will we take her to a doctor in America? She could come with us tomorrow when we are leaving?" Alexandra's face got bright and she was happy to see that Nadia's intentions were true. Andrei's answer was cold and harsh: "There is no use making this effort, she is abandoning gymnastics anyway so what does it matter?" Without being seen, Alexandra left and started crying, she could not believe with how much hate and cynism the president of the Romanian gymnastics federation talked about her after dedicating her whole life to the sport. "For me that was the turning point, I did not want to have anything to do with gymnastics, and even less with the people leading it". Later Alexandra realized how much it had cost her to announce her retirement. "If I had not announced my retirement, their position would have been completely different, certainly needing me for the team, Stoiciu would have backed me going to America for treatment" After they used her, keeping her away from home, tormenting her childhood, faking her passport and compromising her health the Federation threw her out like she was garbage.

 

[Amber]

Moved away from the hostel

• As time passed by Alexandra needed to take a lot of decisions regarding her future, one of the decisions was about her studies. Alexandra decided to continue her high school in Deva. The big change was that she actually had to go to school now. Since she joined the National team, Alexandra did not go to school and she knew none of her classmates as the teachers would come to the hostel to teach the gymnasts. So Alexandra now had to attend classes, at the same time she moved out of the Olympic team hostel to another hostel where most of the younger gymnasts lived. Alexandra shared a room with another Athlete who also was a classmate.

The first day of school

• The winter holiday was over and Alexandra went to school for the first time, more nervous than she had ever been for a competition. "I remember how I quietly entered the class and sat down, almost without looking at my classmates" They however, immediately recognized Alexandra as a great champion they had seen on TV. In the break they were all over her asking for autographs and wanting to know more about her gymnastics life. She also discovered another side of her classmates who were having fun like other children. "They were laughing, chasing, making fun of each other, screaming and making jokes. I had never see anything like that before. Even though we were the same age, we, the gymnasts were much more mature, more quit" She was not getting to know the real life of a 16 year old girl. The hard regime in Deva, the lack of a real childhood, the restrictive conditions, and the responsibility on their shoulders, had turned the gymnasts into pre mature grown-ups who did not know how to play. Her classmates noticed her isolation and avoided her. It took Alexandra a few weeks to convince them that she was just a child, like them. Towards the end of spring, Alexandra was visited by her father who arranged a rental apartment for her to live so again she packed her bags. She loved living in this apartment, her grandmother moved in with her to keep her company and to cook for her.

The modelling career

• During the summer holiday Alexandra was called by an impresario from the fashion world, Liviu Baron. He proposed for Alexandra to become a model and an ambassador for Romanian sports in the world. Alexandra talked to her parents, they agreed and Alexandra went to Bucharest to sign the contract. Because she was still a minor, her father had to actually sign the contract. After the contract was signed, Alexandra was send to change her appearance. She went to get her hair and make-up done and did an extensive photo shoot. Slowly Alexandra was introduced into a different world and she seemed pleased with what she was discovering. The only inconvenience was the weekend trips she had to take to Bucharest, as during the week she was going to school in Deva. Time was passing and the long promised contracts were not coming and so Alexandra did not earn any money. She paid the trip to Bucharest from her own pocket and was also missing school more and more often. She did not like this situation. The impresario took Alexandra to all kinds of fashion events, parades, and the launching of new products. Through these events Alexandra met a lot beautiful models which made her feel inferior. "I was short anyway and after retiring from gymnastics I gained a few pounds so I did not feel comfortable meeting these beautiful, tall, and skinny woman". Alexandra felt that Baron was exploiting her image, dragging her to all these events, talking about her, using her photos and making promises for her to go to America, Hollywood even, all without paying her. A short while later her father got into a fight with Baron and Alexandra's contract was cancelled and her modelling career ended.

The first love

• The summer holiday was nothing special for Alexandra. Her parents were in Bucharest but she felt better in Deva. She did not have any friends in Bucharest so preferred to stay in Deva where her new friends took her out to disco's almost every evening. One of her friends was working in a disco and Alexandra also became friends with the DJ there. Alexandra discovered that she was really passionate about music and the work of the DJ and was inspired to become a DJ herself. At the end of 1998 she met a boy from Bucharest in the disco she frequented, Florin. He came to Deva to spent time with his grandparents. Alexandra really liked Florin and spent a lot of time with him. When Florin went back to Bucharest they managed to stay in touch but it remained just a friendship. After a year, Alexandra finally took the courage to tell Floring how much she liked him. Florin felt the same way but was too scared to tell her. Their relationship blossomed and Florin decided to resign and move to Deva to be with Alexandra.

 

[Amber]

Coming back to Bucharest

• Alexandra completed High School in 2000. The final exams made her very nervous, as she had only been in school for the last year but she passed. Once done with school, she sold her apartment and went back to Bucharest. It was not easy for Alexandra in Bucharest, she did not know anyone, she had no friends there and also did not know the city, so it was very difficult for her to accommodate. The life in the city was also much more expensive than in a small town like Deva. Alexandra soon ran out of money. This forced her to think about her future and contemplate ways to make money. Her first decision was to go to university and the most logical one for her was the National Academy of sports, as a former National team member, she did not have to do an entry exam.

Back to the doctor

• Though she did not have to do an entrance exam, Alexandra did have to pay tuition. She started school but some of the sports subjects were still too hard on her body. She also did not see the use in doing other sports because if she would become a coach, it would be in gymnastics. Once she started school, her back problems returned. She was terrified to go to a doctor so she soldiered on. On a television show she was invited to, she talked about her back problems. Her story impressed the producer who connected Alexandra with a specialist she knew. Again Alexandra took her chances and made an appointment with Dr. Mihai Jianu from the Grigore Alexandru hospital. Dr. Jianu was a very renowned spinal specialist. Again Alexandra went through all the tests: x-ray, MRI, etc. The doctor confirmed that Alexandra had an old fracture in her column, the only solution was back surgery.

Surgery

• The doctor warned Alexandra that treatment would be different as the fracture was so old. Alexandra explained that if she had known that her spine was fractured that she would have gone to a doctor right after she retired, but the coaches ensured her that she was fine and that it was nothing serious. She was furious realizing how the coaches ignored, and made fun of her pain. "They exploited me, they ignored my pain and kept saying that there was nothing wrong with my back, just to keep me competing" Alexandra said. The surgery was scheduled for December, 2000. Alexandra was not scared and fell asleep immediately when given the anesthetics. When she woke up she did not remember much and did not feel any pain, everything seemed normal. She now had a long titanium rod in her back supporting her spinal column. The next ten days were spent in the hospital. Alexandra experienced horrible pains but determined as she was, she was able to leave the hospital walking, two weeks after the surgery.

The damned sneeze

• Alexandra was at home working on her recovery, it was a week after the came home from the hospital and everything seemed fine. The pain was gone, her back felt more solid and also the bad luck she often experienced seemed to have gone. Alexanra remembers talking to her mother about a movie that was coming out in Romania and made plans to go to the cinema. Suddenly she sneezed, she fell down and cried out in pain. "Something happened to my back when I sneezed, she felt something crack and felt horrible pains. When my mother checked on me and raised my blouse she got really scared and called an ambulance. It looked like the rod had snapped and stuck out of my back". In the hospital the doctors were dumbfounded, a titanium rod broke by a sneeze. She immediately went back into surgery. When she woke up again, Alexandra was in a lot of pain but it looked like to rod did not damage her spinal cord and she was happy to know that she was not paralyzed. She developed a high fever and the doctors gave her strong sedatives while her body recovered again. Another two weeks passed before Alexandra was able to walk out of the hospital.

The third surgery

• When she recovered, Alexandra was starting to miss Florin. His parents had moved from Bucharest and he was now living in Deva. Alexandra's mother did not really approve of their relation so, when a new law passed, granting Alexandra an allowance while completing her education, she moved out. She convinced Florin to move back to Bucharest and together they lived in a one bedroom apartment. After only a month, bad luck returned to Alexandra. The rod in her back again came loose and another surgery was required. The surgeons removed the rod and trusted that the vertebrae had recovered enough to not need the rod supporting it. The bones looked well recovered but to be sure they put Alexandra in a plaster from her hips to her neck. She had to wear the cast for 40 days after which she could just wear a back brace.

Finally, a normal life

• After two months of staying in Bucharest, when Alexandra felt she had recovered enough, she and Florin moved back to Deva. They rented a one bedroom apartment with the money from her allowance. Step by step Alexandra left her gymnastics career, and her health problems behind and started a normal, free life, together with Florin.

 

[Amber]

That was it! Thanks for reading

 

[RAFIKI]

Suddenly she sneezed, she fell down and cried out in pain. "Something happened to my back when I sneezed, she felt something crack and felt horrible pains. When my mother checked on me and raised my blouse she got really scared and called an ambulance. It looked like the rod had snapped and stuck out of my back". In the hospital the doctors were dumbfounded, a titanium rod broke by a sneeze.

New nightmare unlocked

Thank you for summarising this book, I knew so little about Marinescu.

 

[RichardL]

She was one of my favorites back in the day, lots of promise starting in 1995 (I thought her and Moceanu tying for the Worlds silver in Sabae was going to be the start of an amazing beam rivalry going into the next quad). Now I know why she always looked so miserable!

 

[Snowfan]

Thank you so much for the summary. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[Peridot]

That was it! Thanks for reading

Thank you! I enjoyed reading and appreciate your efforts!

 

[makam]

I will never understand the coaches who hear their athlete say "I am in real pain and can't do X" and immediately think "oh, they are faking it because they are lazy." Because, like, A. if they are faking it, your coaching clearly sucks since the athlete is trying to figure ways out of doing the training when, B. they've been basically brainwashed since childhood to desire success in the sport, so why would they lie about hurting when it is far more likely they would lie to hide an injury? And geez, everyone deserves a day off now and then, no injury or sickness needed.

 

[KristyJ]

I will never understand the coaches who hear their athlete say "I am in real pain and can't do X" and immediately think "oh, they are faking it because they are lazy." Because, like, A. if they are faking it, your coaching clearly sucks since the athlete is trying to figure ways out of doing the training when, B. they've been basically brainwashed since childhood to desire success in the sport, so why would they lie about hurting when it is far more likely they would lie to hide an injury? And geez, everyone deserves a day off now and then, no injury or sickness needed.

This, plus the apparent willingness to just squander talent if wrong astounds me. Even if you're following the Eteri in skating M.O. and act like athletes who can do quads (when overtrained and doped) grow on trees, what if the one you break was the best one? You'd think that coaches would want regular and thorough injury prevention or at least doctor's screenings instead of the opposite.