| 02. Lavinia Agache, former Romanian National Team Member (1979 - 1985), gymnastics. Ecaterina Szabo, former Romanian National Team Member (1980 - 1987), gymnastics. Cristina Grigoras, former Romanian National Team Member (1979 - 1985), gymnastics. Information provided courtesy of http://gymnastica.com/whateverhappenedto/wag/agache.htm, from the website, “Whatever Happened To…? Gymnastic Greats”. Lavinia Agache was born on February 11, 1968 in Caiute, Romania. During her gymnastics career, her date of birth was actually reported as February 11, 1967. This extra year meant Agache meant Agache met the minimum age requirement for the 1981 World Gymnastics Championships. Agache is often unfortunately remembered for who she is not – teammate Ecaterina Szabo. Early in their careers, Agache and Szabo were unwillingly involved in a scandal with embarrassing consequences. As the story goes, Bela Karoly brought a gymnast from Romania to compete in the 1981 International Gymnastics Classic in Los Angeles. The gymnast was entered under the name “Ecaterina Szabo”, a fact that many later questioned, alleging that in fact fellow Romanian teammate Lavinia Agache was impersonating Ecaterina Szabo. Later that year, when the Romanian Tour (“Nadia ‘81”) came to the USA, the announcer introduced the touring members. Bart Conner turned when Szabo’s name was called, expecting to see the girl he had met earlier in Los Angeles, but it was not her. Rather, the girl he remembered from Los Angeles was now introduced as Lavinia Agache. Interestingly, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation responded to an inquiry made by ‘International Gymnast’ magazine, involving yet a third gymnast. The Romanians wrote that Cristina Grigoras was initially supposed to compete in the meet, but became “unavailable at that moment”. As a result, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation decided to replace her with Lavinia Agache. Strangely, they made no mention of Ecaterina Szabo, as it was Szabo’s name, not Grigoras’ that was called. As the reigning Junior European Gymnastics Champion at the time, it certainly would have been a coup for the organizers of the 1981 International Gymnastics Classic to have Szabo compete. |