A
Romanian
Olympics
By Daniel Thorn
The Romanians walked into the Georgia Dome for the second
night of competition. Their team was currently in third
position, and was expected to win the gold. They were the
current World Champions, but this time it wasn’t going to be so
easy. While U.S.A., Russia, and Ukraine would be competing
with seven members, Romania would only have six. Ana Maria
Bikan, a key player on the Romanian team, injured her knee in
a practice session, an injury that would force her into an early
retirement. She was rushed into the hospital for an emergency
knee surgery. So through the night, as the U.S. crowd cheered
their team to a gold medal victory, the first time for the U.S. in
history, the Romanians fought to hold on to third. Sure, the
Romanians only won the bronze, but this
would not be the end of the Romanians. Lavinia Milosovici,
Gina Gogean, and Alexandra Marinescu qualified into the
All-Around, but Marinescu was substituted by Simona Amanar
because Octavian Belu, the Romanian head coach, thought that
Amanar was a better worker. So as Miller and Dawes were at
the top of the standings, the Romanians silently worked their
way up. By the third and fourth rotations, disastrous spills
were everywhere. Miller, Dawes, Kochetkova, and Huilan, who
were in top position just minutes before, were now out of
medal contention. But the Romanians stayed solid. Lilia
Podkopayeva won gold, but all three Romanians medaled.
Gogean won silver, and Amanar and Milosovici tied for bronze.
But I’ll say it once again, this was not the end of the
Romanians. In event finals, the Romanians shined. In the
Vault, Simona Amanar won gold and Gina Gogean won bronze.
In Uneven Bars, a weak event for the Romanians, Amanar
finished in a tie for fifth, and Milosovici placed eight. In
Balance Beam, Marinescu, who was expected to win a medal,
fell twice, and into eight place. But surprisingly, Gogean took
advantage of other’s mistakes, and won the bronze. In Floor,
Gina Gogean, the current World Champion, stepped out of
bounds, and out of medal contention. She finished 7th. But
Simona Amanar displayed a wonderful performance, and won a
bronze, bringing her medal total to four, tying with Gogean for
the most medals won in Women’s Gymnastics during the 1996
Olympic Games.