Ecaterina Szabo: We were like little robots

Ecaterina Szabo gave an interview to Céline Nony of L’Equipe last spring, shortly before the European Championships. In the interview, she talked about her career and training under Karolyis, about Romania not qualifying to the Rio Olympics, and about her current life in France.

Translated from French by Gaia B.

She walks forward under the Avergne sun and sits on a bench in the city where she has lived for almost 25 years. The former gymnast, only 1.45 meters tall, hasn’t changed much at all. Her hair is still short, like in 1987, when she ended her career after the Rotterdam World Championships. At the age of 50, though, Ecaterina Szabo seems more open. She’s very chatty (and speaks French), enthusiastic, but can become quite moving when she mentions her childhood.

Q: It’s so weird to meet you here in France, how long have you been living here?

A: Twenty-five years (she smiles). I was still studying when I was contacted by the Chenôve club, near Dijon. In Romania, I was famous – I still am – I had made a name for myself, but I wanted to get my coaching license. My husband came here first, and then I followed him in 1992. A year later, we accepted the Chamalières club managers’ offer.

Q: Were you planning on staying here for so long?

A: No. However, we have built our life here, both my boys were born here (Lorenzo, 20 years old, and Zeno, 14). My sister lives in the States, my brother’s in Romania. My parents passed away, but every summer I go back to our hometown of Zagon, in the heart of Romania. I like living in Chamalières, but at the same time, I wouldn’t mind going back to Romania. Maybe I’m getting old…

Q: The European Gymnastics Championships will take place in Romania this year (April 19-23), sixty years after the country hosted the first edition of the women’s championships.

A: I’ve got my ticket already! I can’t wait to be in Cluj, it will be the perfect opportunity to catch up with my former teammates because, unfortunately, we have lost touch over the years. I also hope, from the bottom of my heart, that the Romanian school of gymnastics will prove its worth once more – even if I know that the younger generations need time.

Q: How did you feel when the Romanian teams missed their chance to qualify for the Rio Olympics? (1)

A: It was very hard to watch. It broke my heart! I couldn’t handle it, I haven’t even watched the Games on TV. Back in my days, we never questioned that we would make it. I trained to prove that I was the strongest and the most beautiful (she smiles sadly). That changed, and I don’t know why. But I remain confident, I keep in touch with the girls and the coaches on Facebook and I try to encourage them with a few words and messages.

Q: You said you didn’t watch the Games. You didn’t even watch Simone Biles?

A: I did look at the results! Biles matched my own 1984 record, four gold medals, but she also got a bronze (on beam) whereas I got a silver (in the all-around). Of course, I was emotional, we had been waiting thirty years for someone to do that! I couldn’t remain indifferent, but she’s truly exceptional, she’s amazing. She was born to do gymnastics.

Q: Do you like her?

A: (She hesitates). To be honest, she is not graceful, but she wins because she’s the best in the world, she’s the strongest according to the current criteria. What are we looking for? Beauty or performance? Thirty years ago, we had it all. But gymnastics has changed so much…

Q: Americans have won every all-around title at the Olympics since 2000. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the first one to achieve this result, Mary Lou Retton, in 1984…

A: It’s so funny, Mary Lou actually sent me a friend request on Facebook, we talked about our kids. She has four girls, one of which is very good at gymnastics. At the time, during the Cold War, we couldn’t really talk to each other. But she’s funny, I would love to meet her and talk about the Olympics. I would like to congratulate her, tell her she was the strongest.

Q: Do you regret losing the all-around title?

A: My only regret is not becoming a surgeon, because I love everything to do with medicine. Of course, that silver medal is still on my mind: 0.05 points is such a tiny difference. I had hidden from the cameras so I could cry. But we need to accept defeat the same way we accept victory. During the event finals, the entire arena stood up to applaud me. When I close my eyes, I can still see that. It was so beautiful!

Q: Did the Romanian regime welcome you back like a hero, as they did with Nadia Comaneci in 1976?

A: Nadia’s story is different. I have never met Ceausescu myself (2), and I really didn’t care for it. In my region, I was treated like a princess. I had it easy, every door was open for me. I got free furniture, vases with my face on them, they even named a museum after me. What made me the happiest, though, was seeing my parents. Except for the Budapest World Championships, in 1983, where my mum and brother had traveled to, they had never come to see me compete. It wasn’t easy to leave the country, and anyway, we wouldn’t have had the means to do it. My mother worked as a picture framer and my father worked in a bus station.

Q: How did you start gymnastics?

A: I don’t remember exactly. I did ask my sister, who’s ten years older than me, and apparently, I was always climbing on something. I was never on the ground; I would always be up in some tree. So, my sister brought me to try different sports. When I was around five, I passed a selection and I was admitted to the Onesti gymnastics school.

Q: That’s the school created by Martha and Bela Karolyi, who have coached, among many others, Nadia Comaneci…

A: Yes, but at the time I wasn’t really aware of it. I was too young when she was training for the Montreal games in 1976. I remember watching them on TV, but I didn’t really understand it. What worried me most was the fact that I didn’t live with my parents. They came to see me during the weekend; I think we used to go on walks because I have some pictures taken in a nearby park. All throughout my career, I was away from home, boarding in Onesti first, and later in Deva. When I was five, I cried a lot. But then again, you can get used to anything.

Q: What was your life like?

A: We had a very military-like schedule. Outside of the gym, we had a supervisor who would remind us to take a bath and to put our hair in pigtails. We were like little robots. Since I am part of the Hungarian minority, I didn’t even speak Romanian when I moved to Onesti. I communicated through gestures. When I put two fingers up, that meant I had to go to the toilet (she laughs). I was the only girl in this situation, but a lady helped me. I felt like I had moved to a different country, but it wasn’t a bad life. I didn’t ask myself any questions.

Q: An important detail, though: your name isn’t really Ecaterina…

A: No, my name is Katalin – I would really like to figure out what happened with that! At the time, the Hungarian minority was persecuted in Romania: I think that they changed my name to Ecaterina so that I could represent the country better. But everyone calls me Kati, anyway.

Q: When did gymnastics become important to you?

A: From the beginning, I think. I am incredibly strong-willed, not just in sports, but in life. I am capable of going beyond all my limits. In 1980, however, I started achieving the first really good results during the Junior European Championships, in Lyon. I had traveled there with my coach, Bela Karolyi. Nobody knew who I was, but I still came home with four golds.

Q: The following year, the Karolyis took advantage of a tour of the US to defect…

A: Yes, I was there. There were the older girls, like Comaneci and Eberle, and we were there too, the young ones. Obviously, we didn’t know about it. We were supposed to meet them in the hall of our hotel, in New York – we waited a long time for them but, well, we needed to leave unless we wanted to miss our flight back.

Q: How was your relationship with the Karolyis?

A: (She reflects). Bela could take on every role: he was a friend, a father, a coach. He could be very strict…But the mentality was different back then. I’m not here to judge, but there was a lot of respect.

Q: Romania had quite the reputation back then…

A: We didn’t train like crazy, but we were very serious. We all wanted the same thing. I remember that at the beginning of the season we would go up in the Carpathian Mountains for some heavy physical training. That was truly hell: the altitude, the snow…But we knew that if we went beyond our limits, if we trained hard everyday, we’d be at the top. Dreaming a bit, having a little imagination, was enough for us. You needed to want it in order to accept your life.

Q: Is there anything you didn’t accept?

A: (She hesitates). No, no…I’ve read about what happened in the US, I also know that there have been accusations and complaints against the coaches in Romania. But if you’re not strict and demanding, I don’t think it works. Even as a mother, sometimes you have to be strict, set rules, demand respect. Looking back, I really cannot complain about what happened to me. I was very disciplined, I listened and I did my work instead of cheating or gossiping. I was very scared of my coaches. Perhaps that’s why I was spared.

Q: Bela Karolyi has never denied hitting and humiliating certain gymnasts, and even more so if he thought they had talent. According to him, “that’s sometimes necessary in order to succeed in gymnastics”…

A: Personally, I wouldn’t go that far. I love children too much. But you do have to be strict. I don’t remember experiencing that myself, but I heard coaches being verbally abusive or humiliating certain girls. Maybe that’s what they needed? We try everything in order to help somebody express their talent.

Q: You finished your career at 20. A normal age for a gymnast…

A: Especially at that time! I was following in Nadia’s footsteps, and luckily I was never injured. In 1985, when Daniela Silivas (3) started to emerge and win titles, it wasn’t easy for me. But I loved encouraging the younger girls during training. I was older than them, like a young mother.

Q: Why didn’t you decide to coach at a higher level?

A: I preferred to focus on my family and devote myself entirely to them. Ever since I was a child, I saw myself having children of my own. They are my priority. I haven’t had the chance to live with my parents, but I couldn’t imagine my life without my boys. Now that they’re older, I’m starting to detach myself a little bit from them, but you really couldn’t tell.

Q: Despite your medals, is your childhood an open wound still?

A: Not having grown up with my parents is still a terrible thing for me. Whenever I could return to Zagon, for Christmas, I followed my mother everywhere: I wanted to talk to her, learn how to cook. When I think about it, it still hurts. Of course, you get tougher, you get used to it, but then they aren’t around anymore, and I didn’t have the chance to enjoy them. This thought drives me insane; it makes me so mad. You know, I have never asked my mother what she thought or what she said when she watched me on TV. Did she cry? Did she laugh? All of these questions will never find an answer. I couldn’t let my sons live through that.

[1] Neither the women, despite having been on every Olympic podium since 1976, nor the men managed to qualify to the Rio Olympics.

[2] He ruled Romania with an iron fist from 1965 to 1989.

[3] Between 1985 and 1989, Daniela Silivas earned three Olympic titles and seven World titles.