“Have you set up in Austria?” »In the dialogue with GSP, the legendary Octavian Bellu revealed what he occupies at this time:” I'm home! “

Present at the launch of the book Alchemy of performance, a guide applied and accessible to all those who want to support the sports performance by mental balance, written by Radu Predoiu, the legendary coach Octavian Bellu has agreed to discuss with the Sports Gazeta and the golden moments of the Romanian gymnastics, about the importance of a psychologist in the life of the athletes.

Octavian Bellu: “We practiced sports psychology, even if we didn't know we were doing this”

– Mr. Bellu, in your time as a coach you were also a sports psychologist, before this job is officially recognized.
– I mean that we practiced sports psychology, even if we didn't know we were doing this. However, we must be fair and mention that, in college, we have studied for years psychology. So we can't say we weren't ready for that. But here we live a moment when, in the performance sport, both physical and psychological training are made by specialists. The purpose is to relieve the coach of these concerns and to allow you to focus exclusively on the methodical problems and the proposed training.

– In the past we did not have qualified sports psychologists, but we had results that we do not have now. Why?
– Here is a broad discussion and I would not want to go into details, because it would involve a longer analysis. Some say that those results were obtained, say, through a form of forcing, and the athlete was pushed beyond his possibilities. And, see Lord!, From there the performances also appeared.

– Right.
– Even today we must agree that making a record, obtaining performance, means exceeding certain limits. What are the means by which you can exceed these limits, beyond discussions, beyond motivations or other methods that the coach must find? The athlete must be put in a position to decide what he wants to do. If he wants to achieve performance, he must work and sacrifice certain things compared to a young man who has an ordinary life. If, on the other hand, he just wants to move, then enter another area.

“Something needs to be changed! We should wonder why things don't work anymore.”

– It is clear, Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang are the most successful coaches in the history of Romanian gymnastics. How did you manage to perform and how hard it was?
– I would like to point out that these rankings are made, they are honorable and we are happy, but I always want to remember that, behind the preparation from the lot, which took the athlete to the gold medal, there was a huge work of the athletes from the clubs. And here we should ask ourselves why things don't work the same.

“You're right. Yes.”
– There were coaches who were totally dedicated to the discovery and training of athletes up to a certain level. Once they arrived at the junior lot or the senior group, these athletes were perfected and became those who obtained the European, world and Olympic medals. We must also bring gratitude to those who worked at the time. Without too many discussions or details about how many hours it was working, it was working as much as it needed to perform.

– Obviously, but your performance …
– I have all the respect for these people who, unfortunately, many have remained in the shadow, names that have not been kept in memory of the public. Even of those who went to the lots, some were forgotten. If I said a few names, I would risk forgetting others, and it would not be correct. But I think something needs to be changed, because this new paradigm to achieve performance only by appealing to the goodwill, its ability to stay in the comfort zone, is not sustainable. Under such conditions, you cannot perform!

“No, no, no! I didn't move to Austria. I held some courses”

– The wonderful ingredient of the Romanian gymnastics that was?
– Work, work! And this desire to affirm. Now you can leave when you want abroad, where you want, with your parents, with your family, to go on vacation, to visit museums, to be a tourist. At that time, it was much harder to go abroad!

– The children also left home, out of poverty, to perform.
– And this said it, not me.

– Now everyone has conditions, but performance is missing.
– There are all the conditions, but without work and without a very well trained trainer, you cannot perform.

– Finally, a more personal question. All kinds of information appeared that Octavian Belu left Romania and settled in Austria!
– No, no, no! I did not move to Austria. I took some courses in Europe, being involved in this academy of the International Federation, but I have not left anywhere, I am home!