Word: I wish to thank Magda Petrescu who was an enormous assist in my placing this text collectively. She offered me with quite a few notes on Romanian gymnastics historical past, a few of which comes from her personal private work, different info is credited to Emanuel Fantaneanu that Magda relayed again to me. Magda’s work might be discovered on Fb, YouTube additionally Patreon. Fantaneanu’s most up-to-date work is a 1,500 web page e-book on Romanian gymnastics which sadly for TMC readers, is in Romanian language solely. The e-book was meant to be accessible without spending a dime on Fantaneanu’s private web site (LINK HERE).
Hyperlink to Half II of this sequence
The arrival of Nadia Comaneci within the mid-Nineteen Seventies launched the Romanian program in girls’s inventive gymnastics (WAG) to the highest of the gymnastics echelon. The standard narrative is that Romanian gymnastics was based on the again of Nadia Comaneci, or on the very least it was her who single-handedly made Romanian WAG nice. This text is my try to appropriate that narrative.
Readers could also be shocked to study that Romania had nice gymnasts lengthy earlier than Nadia. In reality, Romanian WAG received back-to-back medals within the crew competitors on the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. Romanian WAG additionally received 14 medals on the European Championships previous to Nadia’s debut whereas having gymnasts end within the top-5 of the Olympic All-Round (AA) on two separate events. On the ten events Romania despatched a full crew to the World Championships and Olympics throughout the pre-Nadia period, the nation had really completed 4th or higher 50% of the time.
On this article I’m going to profile essentially the most achieved Romanian WAGs who competed within the 22-year interval that was Romania’s pre-Nadia period (1952-1972). Collectively, these seven gymnasts have been current in Romania’s lineup at each main competitors this system attended from 1954-1978.
Elena Leusteanu (1954-1964)
Romania made its debut on the Group-1 Degree on the 1952 Olympics and completed in a disappointing ninth place within the crew competitors whereas its greatest All-Arounder completed twenty fifth within the AA. Romania’s poor performing 1952 crew was quickly changed with a brand new era of gymnasts led by Elena Leusteanu.
When Romania competed at its subsequent main competitors on the 1954 World Championships, this system fared considerably higher with a 4th place end within the crew competitors, whereas Elena Leusteanu herself had completed fifth within the All-Round. The brand new Romanian gymnast had positioned 20 spots greater than her predecessor.
On the 1956 Olympics Elena Leusteanu led Romania to its first medal within the crew competitors (bronze), completed 4th within the Olympic AA, and accomplished the trendy equal of qualifying to Occasion Finals on three totally different apparatuses. On flooring train Elena Leusteanu received a bronze, giving Romania its first WAG medal in a person occasion.
The next yr in 1957 a brand new competitors was held in WAG that might be contested for the primary time ever, the European Championships. The very first host metropolis of this “new” WAG competitors could be none aside from Romania’s capital metropolis of Bucharest. Competing in entrance of residence crowds, Leusteanu received a silver within the AA after which two extra silver medals in Occasion Finals. Finally profitable a silver medal in 3 of 5 occasions contested that yr. On all three events, the gold medal had gone to Soviet icon Larissa Latynina.
However maybe this specific end result was fluke as a result of Romania had homefield benefit? Leusteanu put that notion to mattress on the following European Championships in 1959 the place she received a silver medal within the AA for the second time in a row, and later received one more silver medal on the uneven bars.
Elena Leusteanu would go on to turn into a 3x Olympian and appeared 2x on the World Championships. She was a member of all three of Romania’s medal profitable groups (1956, 1958, and 1960) of the pre-Nadia period. Elena Leusteanu’s impression can greatest be measured by the way in which Romania rose and fell within the crew standings when she wasn’t round. Leusteanu inherited a crew that had completed ninth within the crew standings in 1952 and instantly took it to 4th place.
The 1962 World Championships was the one competitors of her profession that Elena Leusteanu missed, and in her absence the Romanian WAG program fell again right into a ninth place end. It wouldn’t be till 1974, properly into the Bela Karolyi period that Romania returned to the identical stage it had been within the Nineteen Fifties when Elena Leusteanu was within the prime of her profession.
Elena Leusteanu was the primary WAG legend in Romanian historical past. She would even be Romania’s solely gymnast to win a person medal in Group-1 Competitors till Nadia Comaneci received a pile of medals on the 1976 Olympics.
Historic Context: In her early childhood Elena Leusteanu was compelled to flee her hometown throughout World Struggle II on account of the advancing Soviet Military. Her hometown would ultimately be annexed into the Soviet Union making Leusteanu a Romanian gymnast who was born outdoors the modern-day borders of Romania.
Sonia Iovan (1956-1964)
Elena Leusteanu led Romanian WAG into its first golden age, however she didn’t achieve this alone. Not solely did she end 2nd within the AA in each 1957 and 1959, Sonia Iovan had been proper behind her in third place on each events. On the primary two events the European Championships had been contested in WAG, Romania had a pair of gymnasts on the AA podium throughout each of these events.
Like Leusteanu, Sonia Iovan received 5 medals on the European Championships. After serving a robust supporting function in 1956 and 1958, Iovan shot up the standings within the late Nineteen Fifties and gave the efficiency of a lifetime on the 1960 Olympics.
However this was the 1960 Olympics, the competitors the place the Soviets gave essentially the most ruthless and dominant efficiency in not simply WAG historical past, however all of Olympic historical past. Within the 5 particular person occasions the Soviets took all however one of many medals. Because of the non-existence of nation limits again then, the theoretical most variety of medals Soviet WAG might have received was 16 medals.
They walked away with 15 medals and took residence 94% of all attainable medals.
Sonia Iovan’s 1960 end result whole of going fifth within the AA whereas ending sixth or higher in three of the 4 particular person occasions is one among WAG’s biggest performances that didn’t lead to any medals. Even when nation limits had been in place in 1960 had they been so for Nadia on the 1976 Olympics, Sonia nonetheless wouldn’t have received a medal. However she would have completed in 4th place on 4 totally different events.
Sonia Iovan by no means repeated her success on the 1960 Olympics. As a gymnast her outcomes tended to be all over. So as, her profession AA outcomes have been as follows: 14th, third, twenty second, third, fifth, eighth, twentieth, and 14th.
However Sonia was the best rating non-Soviet within the AA standings on the 1960 Olympics, proving simply how shut she was to bringing Romania its first AA medal. Sonia Iovan could be a 3x Olympian and appeared in a further two World Championships for Romania.
Word: If you wish to study extra about Sonia Iovan’s life story, I Love Romanian Gymnastics has an in-depth profile of her profession which might be discovered right here.
Elena Sacalici (1956-1958)
A part of what made Sonia Iovan such an impactful gymnast for Romania was she peaked in efficiency at a time when Romania wanted it most, and the explanation for that was Elena Sacalici.
Whereas Romanian gymnastics was beginning to regress because of their veteran gymnasts experiencing their first observable decline as they grew older, Romania was additionally exhibiting indicators of decline because it struggled to interchange its ranks with younger expertise. It appeared this system was destined to fail with no younger expertise on the horizon whereas its growing old veterans have been not in a position to carry this system. However for the aspiring Romanian WAG program, issues would worsen.
Coming into the Nineteen Sixties Romanian WAG was struggling internally, however externally it was plagued with the rise of two new powers that might solely knock this system down the standings. The primary was Japan who crashed onto the scene within the mid-Nineteen Fifties and solely appeared to get stronger within the early Nineteen Sixties now that it was the upcoming host of the early Nineteen Sixties. The second “new arrival” was East Germany.
Although there was a “Unified” German crew on the 1964 Olympics, in girls’s gymnastics it had really been an all-East German crew. The East Germans appeared sooner than that in non-Olympic competitors having made their debut on the European Championships in 1961. With the improved competitors, it appeared Romania’s window of alternative was closing.
On prime of all of that, Romania was nonetheless reeling from the results of tragedy after the sudden loss of life of its prime gymnast, Elena Sacalici. She had been a 1956 Olympian, and could be Romania’s highest scoring All-Arounder on the 1958 World Championships with a ninth place end. Though I need to stress, it might have been a sixth place end underneath 3-per nation limits.
Little is thought concerning the circumstances of Elena Sacalici’s loss of life. Solely that it occurred in Bulgaria in 1959. At 24 years outdated Sacalici competed in an period the place somebody that age doubtless had two extra Olympic appearances left in her profession. With the tragic passing of Elena Sacalici in thoughts, it provides perception into simply how particular that 1960 Olympic bronze medal was for Romania. In 1960 Romania had overcome tragedy and received a medal in Elena’s honor proper because the rising opposition from outdoors packages would make profitable such medals within the close to future nearly unimaginable.
On the 1962 World Championships Romania was in hassle from the very starting. This system didn’t have Elena Sacalici. It was additionally in 1962 that Elena Leusteanu was absent from the Romanian lineup for the one time in her profession. This left Sonia Iovan as its final remaining chief from the earlier Olympic quad to hold the crew load. However as beforehand talked about, Sonia Iovan was identified for her inconsistent outcomes and by 1962 her efficiency was beginning to decline.
On the 1962 World Championships Romania’s highest scoring WAGs completed twentieth and forty fourth within the All-Round. Whereas Romania was struggling on the prime, there have been further issues available. Very early within the competitors one among its gymnasts had suffered an harm. Forcing this system to compete with solely 5 gymnasts in a six-per crew format for the rest of the competitors. Romania would end in ninth place, if Romania was to have a future it urgently wanted a brand new era of gymnasts to emerge. Fortunately for this system, Romania would quickly discover precisely that.
Hyperlink to Half II of this sequence
