Gymnasts Leave Deva

Yesterday, at 10 am, Sabina Cojocar, Silvia Stroescu, Carmen Ionescu and junior Oana Gavojdea packed their bags on the national team bus and went home. RGF�s Executive Committee decided to dissolve the senior national team, due to health problems and lack of discipline. The gymnasts were sent back to their home clubs to train only one their own one month before the European Championships. Yesterday, some of the gymnasts admitted they are justly accused of lacking discipline. There were times when some of them were too tired, and they turned their backs on the coaches as they were being lectured.

Sunday morning, the national team members were aligned in the gym, listening to their coaches as they read the RGF�s decision. �They told us a long time ago that�s what awaits us, but none of us believed this could really happen,� confessed Silvia Stroescu. At the end of the meeting, the gymnasts went to the dorms and packed their bags. �We were all upset. We cried. No matter what, it hurts inside. Even if we fight, we�re still a family,� recalled Stroescu.

Around noon, Sabina Cojocar was in her parents� arms in Sibiu, while the rest of the team was still on their way back to Bucharest. �It�s like in the army, you don�t talk about the orders, you just execute them,� sadly added Manuela Cojocar, Sabina�s mother. "I�m still optimistic, however. I want Sabina to pull herself together and not to give up, because she is a fighter.�

Just like the rest of her teammates, Sabina hopes to go back to Deva after Europeans. �Mr. Belu told us he expects us back in less than two months, during which we should work on our rehab and on improving our strength. I want to be back in a month,� confessed the gymnast. After her latest medical check-up done Friday in Bucharest, she was cleared to resume training. Mariana Bitang says that even then, the gymnast refused to resume normal training. �They found a problem with my wrist and elbow. I could train all the events, but not at full strength,� said Sabina. She underwent arthroscopic surgery at the end of last year. Ever since, she�s been trying to lose the weight she gained during the time off, and she�s been doing light warm-up exercises. She said she still would have liked to go to Europeans, where she could have competed two events. The 10th grader wants to attend a sports high school in Sibiu, in order not to fall behind on her schoolwork. She will be back training at CSS Sibiu. Her mother added. �She came back home to work and train, not to rest and take a vacation.�

Silvia Stroescu and Carmen Ionescu got back home late in the evening. "We want to unpack, take a quick rest and then we�ll see what we need to do,� said Carmen Ionescu. Both gymnasts represent the Steaua Club, and that�s where they�ll start training. �We�ll go there Tuesday or Wednesday morning. We�ll also look into which sports high school we could attend to continue our schooling,� said Silvia Stroescu. Both her and Carmen believe this is a temporary arrangement. �The coaches told us that after a month, they could take us in at Deva. We really want that to happen,� added Silvia. Loredana Boboc also hails from Steaua. She left the Olympic Training Center at the end of January due to an ankle injury. �I�m rehabbing at [Dinamo�s gym], 23 August. I go to Steaua for my strength training and to work on the uneven bars,� said Boboc. "I haven�t been going to school at all. The girls brought me some books. I�m waiting to meet Silvia and Carmen and decide what we�re going to do. I would like to go back to Deva, after I get my medical clearance.�

Overview of what the gymnasts have been doing

Sabina Cojocar
Arrived home yesterday
Underwent arthroscopic surgery on her shoulder in December
Silvia Stroescu
Arrived in Bucharest late yesterday evening
Doctors recommenced she take a 6-months break due to back problems
Loredana Boboc
She�s been in Bucharest since the end of January
Rehabbing an injured right ankle
Andreea Ulmeanu
Arrived in Timisoara yesterday
Coach Mariana Bitang says she ruined her technique on vault after an injury at last year�s Worlds
Carmen Ionescu
Arrived in Bucharest late yesterday evening
Underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee December
Andreea R�ducan
Is still in Deva
She was given a two week deadline to lose the extra 3 kilograms she gained compared to her weight at last year�s Worlds
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