A Look Back in Time (II)

Lavinia Miloşovici …oh, yeah, baby.

Last night I was indulging my nostalgia by watching compulsory exercises from 1996 Atlanta on Youtube. I decided not to watch the USA girls first for once (shock horror), and chose to watch the Romanians instead.

Before I started to educate myself thus, I can honestly say that the only Romanian gymnasts I knew from that era were Miloşovici and Alexandra Marinescu. (I didn’t know who Simona Amânar was until 2000. Yes, I know I’m stupid and unworthy. Now be quiet.)

So I watched the Romanians’ compulsories.

And now I have a huge girl-crush on Milo. Or at least, her 19-year-old self in Atlanta.  

My only regret is that it took me more than ten years to see the amazingness that is Miloşovici (and also the amazingness that is Gina Gogean’s nose). I could kick myself, really.

What’s not to like about Milo? She was stately, refined, and held her head high in a way that commanded respect, not resentment - rather like Boguinskaya, and rather unlike Khorkina in 2004. She had pleasant gymnastics (though the poor girl couldn’t hold a candle to Podkopayeva’s artistry) and loads of grit (she competed in compulsories on a sprained ankle - take that, Kerri!).

Lavinia Miloşovici, 1996 Atlanta, compulsory floor exercise

It wasn’t spectacular, but I loved her sissone(s). Very pleasing.

Plus, Milo could be cute when she wanted to be - I grinned like a silly every time she waved at the camera. Yep, girl-crush.

Lavinia Miloşovici at Wikipedia.

Then there was that big hubbub over Milo appearing topless/nude in Japanese photobooks and DVDs. Ah, Japanese pornography - it’s quite popular, more than you might think. And so Milo got into trouble for that, and then she got married and now has a daughter. Yay.

Um. Yes. That is all.