RRI Sports Club

The crisis in Romanian gymnastics deepens

Florin Orban, 17.04.2019, 13:33

European championships in various sports disciplines are usually held in April. The year 2019 was no exception, and last week 3 European-level competitions unfolded concurrently. From the Weightlifting Championships in Batumi, Georgia, the Romanian delegation walked home with 14 medals. At the European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romanian wrestlers stepped onto the podium no less than 4 times.

However, the Romanian athletes taking part in the European Gymnastics Championships in Szczecin, Poland, returned with no medals. In the womens competition, Denisa Golgota was the closest to winning a medal. Golgota came 4th in the floor event, 5th in the beam and 6th in the vault event. Denisa Golgota was 17th-placed in the all-round event. All the other gymnasts failed to go through to the competitions finals.

Coached by Nicolae Forminte, the Romanian womens gymnastics team had at least one medal as its target, and all hopes were pinned on Denisa Golgota, who had won silver in the floor event and bronze in the vault event in last years edition of the European championships. Nica Ivanus and Carmen Ghiciuc competed alongside Golgota, yet their run was poor. Ghiciuc came out the 16th in the beam event, while Ivanus ranked 20th, in the same event. That was the best result the two gymnasts could get at the competition. It was the first time since 1972 that the Romanian womens gymnastics failed to step onto the podium.

In the mens competition in Szeczcin, the Romanian delegations set objective was also to win at least one medal. Only one gymnast competed in all apparatus finals, Toma Roland Modoianu – Zseder. He also came out 67th in the all-round qualifiers. The best results were obtained in the vault event, where Robert Ghiuzan came 20th, while Marian Dragulescu was 21st-placed. Otherwise, the other gymnasts results were simply lackluster.

Commentators said the reason for the Romanians poor run at the recent championship was the significant progress made by teams with previously mediocre performances in European gymnastics. For instance, the French womens delegation ranked first in terms of overall medal count. But apart from the progress seen in other teams, we cannot help noticing that the crisis the Romanian gymnastics has been going through is deepening.

(translated by: Eugen Nasta)