ROMANIAN GYM COACHES THREATEN TO QUIT
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BUCHAREST, Romania  -- The gymnastics coaches of Romania's gold-medal winning team at the
Olympics have threatened to quit because of wages of less than US$150 a month.

"We have complained repeatedly for years, but received only empty promises," Mariana
Bitang, assistant coordinator for the national gymnastic team, said Tuesday.

"We are tired of sacrificing ourselves for miserable salaries, when we have many offers 
to coach abroad," she said, adding she was also speaking for head coach Octavian Belu.

A gymnastics federation official said the federation was trying to solve the problem by 
appealing to sponsors.

"We regret the situation, but we depend on money from the state budget, and unfortunately
this is what gymnastics coaches in Romania get paid," said Adrian Stoica, the secretary 
general of the federation.

Bitang and Belu's gymnastics squad won team gold in the Sydney Olympics and the gold and 
silver medals in the all-around individual competition. Romania won the world gymnastics 
title in 1994, 1995 and 1997 under their leadership.

Even though each received bonuses of US$50,000 for the Olympic success, Bitang complained 
that it was about half what Olympic champions Simona Amanar and Andreea Raducan made. The 
bonuses came from sponsors, the government and the Romanian Olympic Committee.

Bitang said she and Belu had fulfilled their ambition of winning Olympic gold for Romania.

"But now our pride is satisfied, we worry about money to raise our children, not glory,"
she said by telephone from the Transylvanian city of Deva, where the Olympic team lives
and trains.

Bitang earns about US$90 a month and Belu makes about US$150.

During his 20 years with the national team, Belu and his gymnasts have won 247 medals in 
Olympics, and world and European Championships. Bitang and her charges have won 120 since 
she joined the team in 1992.

"We have offers of US$100,000 a year to coach in the U.S. and other countries, and we won't 
stay here if something is not done about our wages," Bitang said.