LISTEN HERE
WATCH HERE
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss.
Please login to your Club Gym Nerd account to listen and/or watch this episode. Not a member? Join here.
THE HISTORY OF ROMANIAN GYMNASTICS
This episode has been commissioned by Nico T.L., who requested an episode on the history of Romanian gymnastics, from the pre-Nadia era (huhhhh?) to the present. We discuss:
- Mythbusters: Romanian gymnastics started with Nadia
- The 60s: Boycotts and Romanian Gymnastics Jail
- How Nadia changed the difficulty game
- Scandals: The Romanian walkout at 1977 Euros, the 1981 Agache/Szabo identity swap, and most shocking of all, floor routines choreographed by Martha
- The age of Silivas, Dobre, and the single greatest Romanian team of all time
- URGENT: Ballet Beats
- WATCH ALONG: Popa, Voinea, and Potorac
- “Romania does boring, safe gymnastics guaranteed to win.” Fact, fiction, or depends?
- WATCH ALONG: Marinescu and Olaru
- On Top of the World: Romania 2000-2004
- Did the open-ended code kill Romanian gymnastics?
- The 2012 team, Ana Porgras, and what could have been
- The 2015 Worlds incident
- Hope for a better future?
- Spencer and Jessica select their all-time Romanian dream teams
-
- JOIN CLUB GYM NERD
- Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to Behind the Scenes episodes.
- Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
- We have masks too!
RELATED EPISODES
- Project K
- Project K: Decoding Romanian Secret Police Files on The Karolyis with Dr. Simona Petracovsch
- 365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition (Commissioned)
- 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
- 281: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments PART 2 (Commissioned)
- 278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)
- 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
- 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
- 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
- 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
- 252: Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)
- 228: Leotards (Commissioned)
- 225: 1992 Olympics Recap with Wendy Bruce (Commissioned)
- 185: 2008 Olympic All-Around Finals (Commissioned)
- Carly Patterson’s Album Interpreted & Dave Tilley PT Gymnastics Myth Busters
- Tenths Don’t Matter
REFERNCES
- The Balance Beam Situation 10 year GIFebration
- Rhythmic coach disciplined by FIG for violent behavior
- Gymnastics History, 1968: The Women’s Compulsories Competition in Mexico City
- Romanian Coach, Gheorghe, convicted of manslaughter for beating gymnast to death during practice.
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
 |
 |
You guys should stop spreading lies about age cheating. White people didn’t get away with age cheating because they were white, they got away with it because they didn’t talk about their cheating until the statute of limitations was up and they didn’t leave a paper trail of their cheating. In every single case where people of color were punished, it was all about the paper trail. So stop making it about race when the real issue is who has the best cheating skills.
Could you elaborate on the “statute of limitations” timeframe? ‘Cause they punished China 10 years after the incident. How long does it take for punishments to expire? In regards to paper trail, I think it wouldn’t be too hard to find out the gymnast’s stated age in the Olympic/FIG archives so I don’t think they left no trail behind. But, weirdly enough, all of the countries who were punished in such cases were Asian. It’s a bit hard not to include race into the conversation.
The Asians who were punished were absolute crap at cheating. Like the one who competed as the same age for three years. First of all, that shows who how much the FIG even checked up on this stuff. They got away with it for three years and only when someone pointed it out did the FIG even do anything. China was right at the end of the statute of limitations when one of their 2000 Olympians submitted paperwork with her real age which would have made her too young to compete in 2000. Whoops. The whole team was punished. Now compare with her teammate who admitted on a television program that she was 14 at the games in 2000. She kept her individual medals which is proof that the FIG didn’t give a crap about what she said or that she was Asian. If that mattered to them she would have lost her medals too. This is the exact same situation as many of the age cheating Europeans. They admit on tv that they were too young years after the fact and the FIG is like, so effin what? They only care about paperwork. And let’s not forget all of the online evidence that the FIG gave not one crap about in the case of the 2008 team. The OFFICIAL paperwork submitting by the very organization that would have been responsible for the cheating in the first place said those girls were all of age so case closed, end of story. You show me an Asian or anyone else who got punished and I will show you how they were terrible at cheating.