I have a confession to make

This is a confession. I feel like now 11 years later I can finally admit it without feeling like a failure as a gymnastics fan. So here we go. My confession is that I love Simona Amanar and I always have.

That’s right I loved her in 1995 when I first saw her at worlds on floor. I don’t care if she is about artistic as a pirate dancing to Bach I still liked her.

I loved her even more in 1996 when she nearly beat that pouting whiner Lilia Podkopayeva and if it wasn’t for a missing C on floor she just might have done it.

I loved her slightly less in 2000 but I still loved her the same because Simona Amanar was badass. She first introduced us to the 2.5 twisting Yurchenko that should have saved us from Nastia as the AA Champion 8 years later but damn Shawn Johnson for screwing that up.

Simona was a class act. She was more then willing to refuse that AA Gold medal because she felt it belonged to her teammate Andreea Raducan but she accepted it because it would still be bringing it home to her Country. Her teammates would have done the same thing. Lu Xuan also said she would not have accepted it. Just imagine if that medal had been refused all the way down to number 13 and right now we would be calling Elise Ray the Olympic AA champion. I shutter the thought.

Mostly I love Simona Amanar for two reasons. One: because she never came across as the A-Typical bitter bitch Romanian every time she lost. Lavinia Milosovici I am talking about you. and TWO: She introduced me to this floor music that I still love today. I find myself singing it at the most random times and every time I hear it at a baseball game or in a commercial I find myself thinking of Simona with a smile on my face.