Olympics, necessity for me meant only listening to Bela and Marta Karolyi.
The Romanian government used to pour money into its Olympic programs because our leaders believed that athletes represented the power of the government and validated our way of life. As a result, the infighting for individual athletesâ rights to comprise their respective Olympic teams was fierce. Gymnastics was no exception,
and because successful athletes generated privileges for each gymnast, their families, and especially the coaches, the pressure was unbelievable. Although our Onesti schoolâs gymnasts had proven their worth, taking the top six places at the Romanian National Championships, Bela recalls that the federation still chose four gymnasts from Club Dinamo and only three from our school to be on the Olympic team.
âWe have the right to compete as a team!â Bela told the government officials. âNadia Comaneci is the European champion; the rest of the team has beaten every other gymnast in our country,â he declared. âWe won the Nationals!â In the end, it was decided that there would be a final competition in BucharestâOnesti versus Dinamo. Bela moved our team to Bucharest. The summer was incredibly hot, but we practiced day in, day out, regardless of the heat. Club Dinamoâs coaches took the weather into account and on particularly hot days allowed their gymnasts to go to the beach. I remember how jealous I was that Dinamoâs gymnasts were given vacation days. I could taste that jealousy like the salty sweat that covered my skin and never dried.
One particularly sweltering afternoon, the general in charge of sports in Romania surprised us at the gym with a visit. As we dragged ourselves through our full routines, Bela and the man chatted, until the general asked where Dinamoâs girls were. Bela replied, âAt the beach.â The general was furious that Dinamoâs gymnasts werenât practicing and called for a meeting of both teams the following morning. When Dinamoâs head coach couldnât make him understand that his gymnasts had needed some time to cool off, the general made Bela the head coach for the Nationals and the Olympic team. He now
had the power to choose all the gymnasts. After watching both teams practice for another week, Bela made his decision. He took six gymnasts from our school and two alternates from Dinamo to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada. It was actually a fair decision on his partâour gymnasts were leaps above Dinamoâs.
Friend, I need to put things into perspective for you because you are under the illusion that the Romanian team, myself included, thought that the Olympics were the biggest event in our lives. That was not the case. Until 1976, I believed that the European Championships were the most important gymnastics competition in the world. Everything I knew came from what I was told by my coach and my government. Iâd never watched the Olympics on television, let alone televised gymnastics competitions from around the world.
So when I arrived in Montreal for the 1976 Games, I was flabbergasted. The Olympic Village blew my mindâits size and the number of security officials, coaches, and, above all else, athletes in more sports than Iâd ever heard of. What I remember most was that every thingâ everything âwas free. You were given a badge, and with it, you could see movies in the villageâs theater; you could get a soft drink; and you were given matching clothing, bags, hats, and pins. To me, it was so high-tech, so strange and exciting and absolutely wonderful. That first day, I was afraid to close my eyes because I didnât want to miss anything. Little did I know then that missing everything was part of the Karolyis plan to protect their gymnasts.
The menâs and womenâs residences were separate, so Bela couldnât monitor us at night, but Marta was more than effective. We were