The 1984 Olympic silver medalist, Katy Szabo, is bitter. All WAG coaches should read this, if only to see how much elite gymnastics has improved since the ‘prison camp gym’ era in Romania.
When she was 6 years old, the young athlete arrived at the Onesti center, where Bela and Martha were coaching.
“I started school in Onesti. This was the first school in the world specialized in gymnastics. Every 2 weeks I went back home, 70km away, but my parents also came to visit. It was a difficult time in my life. I went away from my family, my friends, from childhood. Everything was calculated. We could eat very little. Those who could not keep up were eliminated immediately. They used to weigh us many times a day. There were really strict measures and this was the key for success. The famous gymnasts ignored us, they were indifferent. No one expected us to compete with them. Stress and hard work consumed us up to exhaustion. Not to forget that the coaches used to beat us. I lost count of the beatings …
Harsh.
fangymnastics –
Katy Szabo: “I happily come to Romania, the country that humiliated me so many times!” @ Jurnalul National
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