A coach’s best moments are those when his gymnast achieves great performances. There cannot be greater satisfaction than seeing his pupil on the podium at the World Championships or Olympic Games. We must also consider those gymnasts who get to guide other champions on the path to success. What could be more beautiful than seeing a great gymnast be a great coach too?

This could also be valid for Teodora Ungureanu and Sorin Cepoi – two of the most important Romanian gymnasts at the end of the 70s. Teodora Ungureanu, 1976 Olympic silver medalist on bars and bronze medalist on beam, is now working on helping new gymnasts follow on her footsteps or even surpass her performance. Together with Sorin Cepoi – an important member of the 1976 and 1980 Romanian Olympic teams – she has created Dynamic Gymnastics, a new New York based gymnastics club, and the first results are starting to show.

Sabrina Vega is both a member of the US National Senior team and the gymnast Teodora and Sorin have coached in the last few years. In her first senior year, she has already earned her spot in the team representing US at the Tokyo Worlds.

We have been talking to the two coaches about Sabrina Vega and this is what they had to say:

Fangymnastics: Hello and congratulations to Sabrina! This morning (the 22^nd of September) the official announcement that she had been selected for the Tokyo team was made public. What does this mean to you? It’s definitely a great performance…

Sorin&Teodora: Thank you! Sabrina’s selection for Worlds comes as a reward for all the effort and work we’ve put in daily together with her in the gym.

Fangymnastics: Ever since her Junior years, Sabrina’s performance stood out and she was selected for the Junior National team. Tell us a bit about her. Who is Sabrina, the gymnast and how is Sabrina outside the gym?

Sorin&Teodora: She is undoubtedly a talented gymnast, very graceful and hard working. Ever since she was a Junior, the judges could see the exceptional quality of her work and her consistency in competition. Outside the gym, she spends her time doing homework and watching movies about gymnastics.

Fangymnastics: Seven gymnasts were selected for the World team after the Karolyi Ranch selection camp: Vega, Wieber, Sacramone, Douglas, Raisman, Maroney and Li. Where can Sabrina contribute to the US team performance? Which are her strong points and where does she need to improve?

Sorin&Teodora: Sabrina has competed in numerous international events during the last 3 years. She did a good job there and proved she is reliable. This is why the federation trusts her for the upcoming Tokyo World Championships where she is set on doing all the 4 apparatus. Where she still needs to do some work is on vault.

Fangymnastics: Looking at the members of the US team, we see that three of seven gymnasts are trained by Romanians. You are coaching Sabrina Vega while Mihai Bresteanu coaches Alicia Sacramone and Alexandra Raisman. How do you see the performance of the Romanian coaches in the US?

Sorin&Teodora: Just like Mihai, we put in a lot of serious work in the gym. This is the only way you can achieve results and, of course, be rewarded for it.

Fangymnastics: Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to us. Good luck to you and good luck to Sabrina at Worlds!

If you want to get to know Sabrina better, you can watch her floor routine at this year’s US National Championships here:

RGF