Romanian gymnast Sabrina Voinea dreams matching, surpassing her mum's accomplishments
The 15-year-old hopes to bring glory back to Romanian gymnastics and follow in the footsteps of her Olympic medallist mum, who now is one of her coaches.
Artistic Gymnastics
Romanian gymnast Sabrina Voinea has big shoes to fill.
And that doesn’t scare her.
“My mom [1988 Olympic silver medallist Camelia Voinea] was a fighter first and foremost,” said Sabrina Voinea in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com ahead of her senior European Championships debut. “I like her ambition, and I wish to achieve even more than she did.”
The 15-year-old made her senior debut earlier this year at the Doha World Cup, claiming gold on the balance beam and floor exercise. That success came after a junior career that grabbed the attention of the gymnastics community.
Romania has a long and storied history in gymnastics. It’s the nation that gave the world Nadia Comaneci and her perfect 10s at Montreal 1976. The nation that won team gold medals at Los Angeles 1984, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004.
But it’s also a nation that hasn’t made it to the Olympic podium since London 2012 where they finished third as team before Sandra Izbasa claimed vault gold and Catalina Ponor took floor silver.
Romania didn’t even qualify a full team to the 2016 or 2020 Games.
So, Voinea’s clear talent and results – which include three medals at last year’s Junior Europeans: vault, gold; team, silver; and floor, bronze – signaled the possibility of a return to the Olympic podium.
Something she and her mum, who coaches her alongside Cristian Moldovan, dream of.
“[My goal] is to come with at least two medals,” said Sabrina Voinea. “At least two medals at the European, and at the Worlds, and at the Olympics.”
Camelia Voinea, a member of the 1987 team that defeated the Soviet Union for the world title, agreed: “That's what we work for and that's what we want,” she said. “We want to go there and to be a medalist at the Olympic Games.”
For Sabrina and Camelia Voinea, a family affair
Sabrina Voinea fell in love with gymnastics like so many children of former gymnasts turned coaches do: Camelia brought her along to the gym at a young age as she coached. She couldn’t keep her daughter off the mats.
“I was just taking her with me to the gym and she fell in love with the gym,” Camelia Voinea explained. “So, being very energetic, she began to love gymnastics.”
She also began to realize what her mother had accomplished in the sport.
“From a young age, I was watching [my mum] on television and I liked her routines,” Sabrina Voinea said, “and I tried to take myself after her, too, and even achieve more. And I'm still watching her to see what progress she had since she was my age, how she grew up in the gym and so on.”
While the two spend the day together training, they do their best not to take gymnastics home with them.
“No,” laughed Camelia Voinea when asked if they talk about gymnastics at home. “We are in the gym six, seven hours. That’s enough.”
But that doesn’t mean they’d have it any other way.
“I wish that my gymnastics career will be full, to continue to train with my mother,” said Sabrina Voinea. “As I said so many times, and I'll say again, I can't train without my mother. No, I can't.”
That strong relationship as daughter and mum is advantage, the both say, that comes with an unspoken understanding.
“I think it's easier to work with your own daughter because she feels you differently, she understands you differently,” explained Camelia Voinea. “And I see that it bears fruit, and we want the fruits to grow more and more.”
Sabrina Voinea: Readying for the next steps
The Europeans, taking place April 11-16 in Antalya, Türkiye, provide the next opportunity to see the fruits of their labour take flight.
“Training is going very well,” said Camelia Voinea of preparations for the continental event. “We always train with progress every day. We have joy in the soul that she is doing better and better and hope that God helps her to catch a peak day and have a good and beautiful competition because she is ready.”
In her daughter, Camelia Voinea might just see some of herself while Sabrina Voinea hopes to reach the heights of her mum.
“She is very ambitious, she has a nerve. I always push her. I'm next to her, I give her confidence,” said Camelia Voinea. “She wanted to get here because when she stepped into the gym, I only wanted her to exercise and be healthy and grow. Now, I want her to become a strong woman, and a woman who will bring as many medals as possible to Romania.”
Added Sabrina Voinea, “I am glad that I am Romanian and I want to win and bring as many medals home and I want God to be with us and be healthy.”