Prețul Aurului. Sinceritate Incomodă

by Maria Olaru

Un copil povesteste scandalurile din casa, gelozia, bataile, sinuciderea tatalui in care este implicata o jucarie, episoadele de betie ale mamei si vorbeste despre iubirea lor, dupa care a tanjit si pe care, deseori, a simtit‑o. Un copil ajunge in sala de gimnastica si ridica ochii catre norocosul sir de antrenori admirand‑o si batand‑o. O relatie tandra si nepermisa. Bataie, cafteala, atingere, „mangaiere”, pedeapsa, altoiala, urecheala, cate sinonime avem noi, romanii, si tot atatea generatii de fete si baieti care au suportat o educatie cu palma. Un copil povesteste, in numele nostru, cum ne‑am furat‑o acasa, la scoala, in ateliere, la rude si in internate. Un copil a trait toate aceste lucruri. Un copil a ajuns, mai apoi, campioana mondiala absoluta si campioana olimpica. […] E despre un copil care are puterea sa vina si sa‑si apere antrenorii, scriind ca Bellu si Bitang n‑au avut nici o vina in cazul dopajului Andreei Raducan de la Sydney. Dar cartea aduce ceva si in acest misterios episod. E despre un copil care si‑a iubit parintii, antrenorii, supraveghetorii si pe toti cei de la care n‑a pretins nimic. Si pe care nici azi nu‑i acuza. Nimic din ce scrie Olaru nu coboara. Cartea e necesara si insuportabila. E cartea unui om care nu se victimizeaza. Isi cunoaste valoarea, isi aminteste efortul.

Genres: Romanian Literature, Autobiography

243 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maria Olaru's early childhood was marked by her parents' screaming matches, her father's suicide, and even the shunning of her relatives. Nevertheless, a transfer half-way across the country to Romania's so-called medal factory set her firmly on the path to success.

Peppered with several love taps, some biting commentary, and even a few happy memories, Olaru slowly rises to the top of the podium during the 1999 Worlds, and even nabs the silver (initially bronze) medal during the very controversial all-around competition of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. No small feat with a naturally argumentative personality in a system built on absolute obedience.


Maria Olaru's floor routine during All-Around at the 2000 Sydney Olympics

Among all the gymnastics documentaries I've watched, none have quite impressed me the way Katelyn Ohashi's confession did. Not because she had it worse than anyone else, but rather the reaction to it, that I got from someone close to me: "yeah, but then Ohashi clearly wasn't cut out for elite gymnastics." So Olaru enduring regular beatings, and plenty of derogatory remarks, was cut out for it, right? I mean, she won several medals, olympic ones included.

Was it all worth it? The author says she doesn't regret choosing the sport, but I'm guessing she could have done without most of those love taps and psychological bullying. As for the aftermath... The ex-gymnast had to literally fight for years, to get access to her own medical records after her retirement. And when she finally succeeded, she got a folder riddled with carelessly torn out pages. But hey, others had it worse, with the federation altering their date of birth, thus invalidating all their means of identification. So... yay?


Maria Olaru in 2016

Twenty years after retiring, Olaru still talks about her favorite coaches as having been warm, but not shying away from hitting her hard enough to fall down, or from conducting regular room searches, where reading her private diaries was fair game. All in the name of education, of course. To all that I can only echo Rachael Denhollander: what is a little girl worth?

While the US had the Karolyis, Romania had the Karolyis plus the Bellu/Bitang duo. Ask any Romanian gym nerd and they'll wax poetic about the influence of the latter two on modern Romanian gymnastics, and it never being the same after they retired. This autobiography naturally had every most Romanians ask: Why now? Why is Olaru still holding grudges? Why couldn't she do the mature thing and only talk about the good things ? But I dare anyone with a soul to read this memoir and not want to scream bloody murder at the two coaches... and then some.


Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang at the 2012 Olympics

In all her interviews Olaru insists that this book is actually a happy one, and that people should stop judging it solely based on that one specific controversial diary excerpt the tabloids keep referencing (a coach hitting her so hard, that she fell).

Well Maria, I have read your book in its entirety, and don't find it anywhere close to happy. With the possible exceptions of two chapters from life post-retirement.
Romanians may say that beatings were just the norm during those days. Yet Olaru herself admits that not even her parents, despite all their vices, had ever raised a hand to her. The coaches on the other hand, especially those she recalls most fondly, were a different matter.

Score: 3.3/5 stars

I don't know about you, but this memoir left me feeling both horrified and incredibly hopeless. Will there ever come a day when the Romanian Gymnastics Federation gets the post-Nassar USAG treatment?



Not. Bloody. Likely.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este o carte ce te plimba prin intreaga cariera a unui sportiv de performanta si care iti da ocazia sa intelegi sacrificiile facute dar si chinul suportat pentru a fi cel mai bun. Impresioneaza prin detaliile "suculente" si incomode legate de imaturitatea in comunicare si metodele barbare de antrenament (cel putin dpdv psihologic dar deseori si fizic) ale "greilor gimnasticii" Bellu si Bitang. Pe scurt, cartea te face sa intelegi cat "costa" de fapt aurul atat de ravnit de cativa si admirat de noi toti ca simpli spectatori.
Nu i-am dat 5 stele pentru ca nu este totusi o lucrare elaborata. Intalnesti diverse stangacii literare care sunt de asteptat. Pasaje intregi de enumeratii sau repetii ale acelorasi idei, descrieri mult prea detaliate dar totusi simpliste ale unor banalitati. Tensiunea exista pe alocuri insa, in cea mai mare parte, relatarea se face liniar, cu un ritm mai degraba lent si poate cu prea mult bun-simt (asa cum puncteaza pe final autoarea)
Merita citita.

[Gabriela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este o carte: 1. scrisă de un sportiv, deci din punct de vedere al tehnicii de scriere nu m-am așteptat la prea multe (pe alocuri face treceri mult prea bruște și unele relatări nu au nicio punte de legătură). Deci din acest punct de vedere niciun cititor nu trebuie să se aștepte la un bildungsroman influențat considerabil de Mariana Bitang:)
2. care merită citită măcar din respect pentru gimnastica românească ( sau ceea ce a fost ea în epoca de "aur"). Cititorul va afla că performanța necesită multe sacrificii și că unele evenimente trebuie analizate și prin raportare la contextul istoric în care și-a construit cariera Maria Olaru (i.e. perioada post-comunistă, etc).

[Corina Ban · Rating 4 out of 5]

O carte realista, scrisa cu suflet care aduce in prim plan un subiect greu de digerat si plin de mixed feelings - atat pt autoare cat si pt cititori. Detalii mai putin placute despre marii antrenori ai gimnasticii romanesti si ai lumii sunt descrise in incercarea de a le intelege faptele. Merita citita!

[Ana O · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5