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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
Christmas in the mountains
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.
