Gymnastics was my worth - it was my life - and I hated myself.
In Russia, show the least athletic aptitude and they've got you dangling off the parallel bars with a leotard full of hormones.
I've said before, 'gymnastics is abusive,' but now I know it's not the sport that's abusive - it's the culture that was created and accepted and normalized.
Gymnastics, especially in my family, is more than a sport. It's our life, it's our careers, it's our family business.
Romania doesn't have a big tradition of gymnastics as a fun activity. We were a little behind in this aspect.
Gymnastics is the greatest sport in the world, and one of the hardest, but we have to watch out for domineering male figures who try to belittle and scream at young girls.
In elite gymnastics, I was surrounded by this bubble, that gymnastics was literally all I knew, and I'd like to know about worldly issues.
The gymnastics community is toxic. You just do what they say no matter what. It's really scary.
There's so much denial in gymnastics. It's a beautiful sport but the other part is numbing. You become machinelike. They'll refute this, but I've been around it. I know.
