02. Februar 2005  
Bukarest / Rumänien  
Artistic Gymnastics

Romanians Head Coach Belu resigned....

Octavian Belu (ROM)

Gymnastics head coach Octavian Belu resigned Monday amid criticism of his training methods and a lawsuit by a former gymnast after leading Romanian women to more than 250 medals in major championships.

Belu, who coached the women's team to gold medals at the last two Olympics, blamed attacks on his professional and private life and said he wanted to clear his name. 'It's a responsible gesture so that my problems do not affect the sport,' he said....
Also the Romanian top coach Maria Bitang resigned Monday, citing media attacks. 'We are people, not monsters, as the press portrays us,' she said.

Belu, shocked and perplex...

Belu has coached the Romanian women's team since 1981, taking over after famed coach Bela Karolyi defected to the United States. He coached Romania to 272 medals -- including 104 golds -- in Olympic, world, European and other top competitions.
Last week, Belu defend himself in a suit filed by former Romanian gymnast Oana Petrovschi. She is seeking $51,900 in damages from Belu, assistant coach Mariana Bitang and the Romanian federation. Petrovschi contends she has serious back injuries because she was forced to train while injured.

Oana Petrovschi

Oana Petrovschi (18), won a silver medal on the uneven parallel bars at the 2002 world championships and a vault bronze medal at the European championships that year.
Petrovschi also accused Belu of forcing her to pay him 30 percent of her winnings from exhibitions. Belu said he did receive money from her from exhibitions, but added that she had agreed to pay him a share of the winnings.
Belu said he had asked the federation to make the payments part of the gymnasts' contracts, but his suggestions were ignored.
In another development, Catalina Ponor, a triple gold medalist in Athens, stopped training last week and is considering quitting the sport, Bitang said. Ponor won the balance beam and floor exercise and a third gold with the team.

Coach Bitang and Catalin Ponor at the 2004 European Champs in Amsterdam

The resignations shocked the public, with commentators wondering whether Romania's longtime domination of world gymnastics had ended. 'We have no more stars left,' leading Romanian sports daily Pro Sport lamented yesterday.

Ponor declared her retirement!
Romania's gymnastics program was in turmoil Tuesday, a day after Catalina Ponor the triple Olympic Champion, has stopped training and is considering quitting the sport.
She says she wants the coaches to return, and has been joined by Monica Rosu, a double-gold medallist who is also threatening to quit unless Belu and Bitang come back.
The last news from Bucharest are, that she quit her career just now!