if we had gained too much weight, we would not have been great gymnasts and could have gotten hurt. Only by balancing calories can any gymnast maintain her weight and delay puberty. Puberty can end a
girlâs career, and overweight gymnasts, no matter how talented, canât be as powerful or graceful as competitors who maintain a healthier body weight. This is just a fact. My friend, it might seem unfair, but a soccer player needs power and muscles; a football player must be fast, strong, and sometimes heavier than he desires; a skater needs graceful lines; and gymnasts must be light and lean.
As a result of eating well and being under the guidance of a physician, I was given the gift of a strong body and bones, though my mother of course attributes these things to a different source. She loves to remind me that she is most responsible for my health, saying that when I was born, I took everything good out of her body. I understand that there are real consequences for young gymnasts who do not eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. I urge parents to look at their childâs psyche, body type, and nutritional needs when helping that child decide if a career in gymnastics is the right choice for his or her physical and emotional well-being.
I have tried to answer your questions about the emotional and physical tolls of gymnastics from my own perspective. I have written about overcoming challenges and winning the gold at the European Championships just five months after my poor showing at the 1978 Worlds. Although Iâve expressed how gymnastics has affected my life in countless positive ways, you are understandably still very curious about the one time I mentioned when I did ignore my bodyâs pain signals. Before I tell you what really happened in Fort Worth, let me say that though I pushed the envelope that day, I believe I was never in danger of serious injury. One of the reasons my gymnastics career was so long and successful was because of the common sense I exhibited.
After the Worlds and the European Championships, I spent the next few months training and competing, with success after success. I had achieved a higher level of fitness than ever before and believed my results at the World Championships in Fort Worth would be no different. But there were problems before our team ever arrived in Texas. The Romanian government sent us to Mexico a month before the Worlds to train in a gymnasium on U.S. apparatus theyâd purchased, to make certain we would be comfortable going into the competition. The differences in the equipment were very small, but even tiny things such as the feel of the floor material and the measurement systems of the vault and bars can throw off a gymnast when the pressure is on. They also wanted us to get used to the heat and humidity, since the climate in Mexico was similar to that in Texas. But instead of getting prepared, we got a vicious stomach flu. Suffering from diarrhea and nausea, it was difficult to train. I lost almost 10 pounds and was incredibly weak.
I didnât like being far away from home for so long. I wrote letters to my mom, telling her I was homesick and disliked the spicy food. Plus, the new generation of gymnasts on my team was coming up, and it was time for me to move on. While traveling, I had to live under the rules Bela imposed on the younger gymnasts even though I was eighteen years old. I obeyed him but didnât like the restrictions. Once again, we began to have small disagreements.
The entire team looked gaunt and pale when we arrived in Texas. The Western media immediately wrote that we were no longer the energetic, cute little girls of the past; we looked starved and unhappy. Unfortunately,
they never bothered to ask our coaches why we appeared so sickly. At the time, none of us realized that the media were talking about us or that people were focused on the way we looked. I forced myself through the compulsoriesâI was the team leader, and the
girlâs career, and overweight gymnasts, no matter how talented, canât be as powerful or graceful as competitors who maintain a healthier body weight. This is just a fact. My friend, it might seem unfair, but a soccer player needs power and muscles; a football player must be fast, strong, and sometimes heavier than he desires; a skater needs graceful lines; and gymnasts must be light and lean.
As a result of eating well and being under the guidance of a physician, I was given the gift of a strong body and bones, though my mother of course attributes these things to a different source. She loves to remind me that she is most responsible for my health, saying that when I was born, I took everything good out of her body. I understand that there are real consequences for young gymnasts who do not eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. I urge parents to look at their childâs psyche, body type, and nutritional needs when helping that child decide if a career in gymnastics is the right choice for his or her physical and emotional well-being.
I have tried to answer your questions about the emotional and physical tolls of gymnastics from my own perspective. I have written about overcoming challenges and winning the gold at the European Championships just five months after my poor showing at the 1978 Worlds. Although Iâve expressed how gymnastics has affected my life in countless positive ways, you are understandably still very curious about the one time I mentioned when I did ignore my bodyâs pain signals. Before I tell you what really happened in Fort Worth, let me say that though I pushed the envelope that day, I believe I was never in danger of serious injury. One of the reasons my gymnastics career was so long and successful was because of the common sense I exhibited.
After the Worlds and the European Championships, I spent the next few months training and competing, with success after success. I had achieved a higher level of fitness than ever before and believed my results at the World Championships in Fort Worth would be no different. But there were problems before our team ever arrived in Texas. The Romanian government sent us to Mexico a month before the Worlds to train in a gymnasium on U.S. apparatus theyâd purchased, to make certain we would be comfortable going into the competition. The differences in the equipment were very small, but even tiny things such as the feel of the floor material and the measurement systems of the vault and bars can throw off a gymnast when the pressure is on. They also wanted us to get used to the heat and humidity, since the climate in Mexico was similar to that in Texas. But instead of getting prepared, we got a vicious stomach flu. Suffering from diarrhea and nausea, it was difficult to train. I lost almost 10 pounds and was incredibly weak.
I didnât like being far away from home for so long. I wrote letters to my mom, telling her I was homesick and disliked the spicy food. Plus, the new generation of gymnasts on my team was coming up, and it was time for me to move on. While traveling, I had to live under the rules Bela imposed on the younger gymnasts even though I was eighteen years old. I obeyed him but didnât like the restrictions. Once again, we began to have small disagreements.
The entire team looked gaunt and pale when we arrived in Texas. The Western media immediately wrote that we were no longer the energetic, cute little girls of the past; we looked starved and unhappy. Unfortunately,
they never bothered to ask our coaches why we appeared so sickly. At the time, none of us realized that the media were talking about us or that people were focused on the way we looked. I forced myself through the compulsoriesâI was the team leader, and the
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