Former Romanian coaches cause uproar after GymCastic interview — Watch their follow-up interview

An interview that GymCastic did last week — with Daymon Jones and Patrick Kiens, currently the head coaches at World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas, (yes, the gym owned by Simone Biles’ parents) and formerly the head coaches of the 2024 Romanian Olympic team — went viral in Romania and caused a stir among the gymnastics community there. 

Jones and Kiens alleged during the interview that the Romanian elite gymnastics culture was toxic and that coaches were routinely abusive to their athletes — including Camelia Voinea, who coaches her daughter Sabrina (the third player in the Ana Barbosu-Jordan Chiles Paris floor debacle). They worked with the Romanian team from early 2023 until they departed after the Olympics for the WCC job. 

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They also alleged that the Romanian gymnastics federation, which employs former Olympian and Romanian gym legend Gina Gogean (whom you may know as the originator of the skill that contributed to Chiles’ role in the Paris floor debacle) as its vice president, has failed the athletes coming up in the system. Their exact words on the podcast are that the federation is “one big mess” — messy politics that led to them playing favorites with the athletes who relied on them for funding. Denisa Golgota, who competed at worlds this year, is one of the athletes who did not receive funding from the national federation, and she contends it is because she came forward about the abuse she suffered. 

In the wake of Jones’ and Kiens’ interview, Romanian gymnast Maria Holbură corroborated their statements. Video was released showing Camelia Voinea screaming at her daughter during a practice.  

Without giving the whole podcast away, because it is well worth a listen for any gym fan, there’s a lot going on here. It’s clear that Romanian gymnastics is hindered in its growth as a program because of this infighting, and it is not at all clear that the people involved want to stop the infighting and move towards growth. 

And on Thursday night, Romanian federation president Ioan Suciu dissolved the country’s national team, meaning that its former members will no longer train together in any capacity. There is much speculation that this action is in retaliation for athletes speaking up against abusive behavior from coaches. This is a terrible shame on our sport. 

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Five at The IX: Daymon Jones and Patrick Kiens follow up with GymCastic

Watch the dynamic coaching duo as they discuss the response to their first interview with the podcast and how they feel about it, as well as their thoughts on coaching Americans at the 2025 world championships.