From GSP

With the return of the most awarded Romanian coaches in sports history, Ana Porgras won the World title after 9 years.
“It’s just the beginning” promises Octavian Bellu.

The coaches and girls will spend Christmas and New Year at Izvorani.

Reporter: This year you have returned to the Olympic team.
Bitang: Our return was not a radical change. However, it was second nature for us.. We have been going through a delicate period. I regret that there are not so many coaches and ‘egos’ are more important than anything.
It’s sad that there are fewer gymnasts, fewer coaches, less money. I’m not only talking about gymnastics, it’s also about other sports.

In the six months since you returned, when was the hardest?
Bitang: The first contact is not always a convenient time, but we have enough experience to deal with such things. There was immediate pressure of competitions. We must forget these worries.

How many gymnasts are training now at Izvorani?

Bitang: Sixteen. Ideally it would have been better to have more. It would have been nice to have 10 to 12 very good gymnasts. There is not an exact ‘recipe’ or an optimum amount. Each coach is trying to have as many good gymnasts as possible.

Are you going to take a holiday?
Bitang:We had four days. But then we regretted it. However, some girls stayed away from the gym so much that another holiday would have affected them. They understand that they need to work hard. The Europeans are in April which means that in February the girls must start practicing their routines.

After five years, you will spend Christmas in camp again?
Bitang: We will not be home, but in past years we also spent the holidays with former gymnasts. We are used to spend holidays in camp. If the girls don’t have a holiday, than neither do the coaches.

What would you like to receive for Christmas?
Bitang: Health. Nobody can give you this, but this is what I want.

What do you wish Romanians for Christmas?
Belu : Health first of all, to not lose hope and have a golden year!

Will there be fewer competitions for the girls in 2011?
Bitang: That can’t be possible, if you do not participate in competitions, you can not make an evaluation. Some of them can be flawless in training, but in competitions they can do nothing. We have to respect the timetable set by the International Federation.
Bellu: You cannot go to the Olympics directly from the gym. We’ll do a few contests with the team, but also other individual competitions.

At the 2010 Worlds we saw the value of Romania, fourth place. Can it recover before the next World Championships?
Bitang: We noticed the difference, which is substantial compared to the podium. If the three teams have all changed places at the top and we know the value, it is clear that we start in a race with disabilities.
We try, but it does depends on the girls, their desire, their technical limits, to what the athlete offers. We’ll see after Worlds if the team reached the target and if it cannot be done, we will redirect to the individual medals. It is true that a strong team can create a premise for some strong gymnasts and apparatus.
Bellu: It is quite complicated because all the other teams are not staying o9n one spot, they have gymnasts who are coming back, Russia as well as USA and with China you never know! The girls aren’t the same anymore, the stimulation was different in the past. We should not complain that there is no infrastructure ,that we don’t have enough gymnasts. There have been many changes in the field of motivation also. Girls now have laptops, cell phones, you can’t say that they go to a competition for just a pair of jeans.

What would the problems be then?
Octavian Bellu: We no longer have coaches who are available to sacrifice 24 out of 24 hours. They have other options we can’t operate without trained coaches based on the fact that they will learn through experience. The situation of the sport is a difficult one bearing in mind that it has now become more of a science.

On which apparatus does Romania need to improve on?
Octavian Bellu: On all of them. The fact that the girls won medals on beam and floor in 2010 does not guarantee that they will get them again next year. In the preparation plan there is a new routine specified for each and every one of them, but it is not enough for us to desire. Reality from training is different than the one from paper. I was happy for those who succeeded because they had to work hard after serious injuries.

Are the Olympics still remain the main objective?
Bellu: Clearly! The rest are small steps. The European Championships will only be attended by girls who will have something to say. And the World Championships will be a platform for the Olympic Games.

Source

Claudiu