Article by Sebastian Culea – Published Monday, October 27, 2025, 11:46 / Updated Monday, October 27, 2025 12:00
Romanian gymnastics is shrouded in a scandal of great proportions after the World Championships in Jakarta: upon returning to the country, Denisa Golgotă, 23 years old, declared that she filed a complaint for physical and psychological harassment, which was completely ignored by the Gymnastics Federation.
The World Championships in Jakarta ended on October 25, two days ago.
Denisa Golgotă: “They harassed me! They tried to make me succumb mentally”
“I submitted a complaint that was not taken into account. Everyone knows what it's about. The people I train with in the gym harassed me and tried to make me give in mentally. Unfortunately, the Federation pretended it was raining,” explained the athlete, according to as.ro.
The gymnast accuses that she faced discrimination within the group, but also with serious threats: “The girls came many times and told me what they heard said about me: that someonethey would punch me in the mouth until I was disfigured and I would need plastic surgery”
It was a very difficult year mentally, but also a successful one for me. The only people who supported me were my family, Mrs. Corina Moroșan, Mrs. Carmencita Constantin and Mrs. Silvia Stroescu. Mrs. Corina was the only one who took care of me in Jakarta.
Denisa Golgotă – gymnast
The gymnast also accuses the officials of favoritism at the batch level: “When I was doing gymnastics 5 years ago, there was no one who was a priority,how these favoritisms were a shock for me too. I have a dream, I still believe that something will change after the World Cup, it is not normal to be treated like this towards other athletes, not just me”
Denisa Golgotă, elegant on the ground PHOTO Imago Images
Ignored by the Federation: “Everyone pretended it was raining”
“The bullying wasn't just in the training room – both bullying and harassment. I filed a complaint that was totally ignored by the Federation. Everyone pretended to be raining, unfortunately,” added Denisa.
Romania finished the WC in Jakarta without a medal. In fact, Romania has not won a medal at the World Cup since 2015.
Denisa Golgotă also suffered from food poisoning and was unable to train before the floor final, which she finished in 7th place:
“I had only Asian, very spicy dishes as options and I got food poisoning. For three days all I did was stay in bed; I was completely without energy and on the day of the final I didn't know if I would be able to compete”, said the athlete for Radio Romania Actualității.
