Romanian gymnast drops charges against coach

A former Romanian gymnast who had sued her coaches, accusing them of asking for money and forcing her to compete with an injured back, dropped her claims after being compensated by a sponsor. Earlier this year, Romanian Olympic team coaches Octavian...

A former Romanian gymnast who had sued her coaches, accusing them of asking for money and forcing her to compete with an injured back, dropped her claims after being compensated by a sponsor.

Earlier this year, Romanian Olympic team coaches Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang quit after 2002 world silver medallist Oana Petrovschi sued them for more than $50,000 in damages.

Belu admitted receiving money from his athletes but said it was given freely as a sign of gratitude and that he never demanded it.

"Today my client officially asked the court to drop the charges against Belu and Bitang," Petrovschi's lawyer Dana Pavelescu told Reuters. "We asked the court not to pursue."

Pavelescu said one of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation (FRG) sponsors offered her client funds to drop the case but she refused to disclose the details of the deal.

The Bucharest court in charge of the case agreed to drop the charges.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.