Octavian Ioan Atanase Bellu (; born 17 February 1951) is the current head of the Romanian national women's

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

team. He was the main coach, with interruptions, from 1990 to 2005International Gymnastics Hall of Fame Inductees
Octavian Bellu and returned as head of the national team in 2010.International Gymnast Magazine
Gent victory marks new beginning for Izbasa, Amanda Turner, 14 September 2010 Highly successful, Bellu led the team to five

world The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

and two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

titles, as well as coaching numerous individual gold medalists – since 1990, Romania has been the most successful women's gymnastics power. He also coached such accomplished gymnasts as

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Cătălina Ponor Cătălina Ponor (; born 20 August 1987) is a Romanian former Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast who competed at three Summer Olympic Games: 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004, 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016. She won three ...

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and

Larisa Iordache Larisa Andreea Iordache (; born 19 June 1996) is a Romanians, Romanian former Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She represented Romania at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Romania at the 2012 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal with the team, a ...

. During his time as head coach, his teams have combined to win 82 world (59) and Olympic (23) medals. In 2007, the World Record Academy recognized Bellu as the world's most successful coach, with 16 Olympic gold medals and a total of 279 medals at the European and World Championships and Olympic Games.Most Successful Coach-world record set by Octavian Bellu
worldrecordacademy.com He was inducted into the

International Gymnastics Hall of Fame The International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, located in Oklahoma City, USA, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring the achievements and contributions of the world's greatest competitors, coaches and authorities in artistic gymnastics. The early IG ...

in May 2009.

Early life and career

Bellu started out in gymnastics as a gymnast at Petrolul Ploiești Sport Club Octavian Bellu Champion Coach (interview in Romanian) and dedicated 13 years to the sport. Admittedly, he was an average gymnast and had troubles because of his height.Federation Internationale de Gymnastique
Octavian Bellu He also played volleyball and basketball and took up diving. In 1974, he graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Institute in Bucharest, where he studied the technical aspects of the sport, methodology and training. After graduation, he worked for five years as a teacher of physical education at Valea Călugărească. At the same time, he worked as a part-time coach for young girls at the club where he was previously enrolled as a gymnast. In 1978–1979, he gave up his teaching position to become a full-time coach at Petrolul Ploiești and then at a club in

Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...

National team 1981–2005

Bellu became a coach of the national team in 1981 after the defection of Márta and

Bela Károlyi Bela may refer to: Places Asia *Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India *Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India *Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara * Bela, Dang, in Nepal *Bela, Janakpur, ...

to the United States. In 1990, Bellu took over as women's head coach, succeeding Adrian Goreac. While he served as national coach in Deva from 1990 to 2005, the national team won five consecutive world titles, from 1994 to 2001, and two Olympic team gold medals, in 2000 and 2004. Bellu's gymnasts were dominant in the 2004 Olympic Games, winning four of the six available gold medals. During his time as head coach, his teams combined to win 82 world (59) and Olympic (23) medals.

Resignation and political career

In early 2005, Bellu and his coaching partner

Mariana Bitang Mariana Bitang (born August 3, 1962, in Râmnicu Sărat) is a coach for the Romanian national women's artistic gymnastics team. Along with her partner, Octavian Bellu, she helped Romania win five consecutive team gold medals at the World Champion ...

resigned their positions with the national team because of a media scandal. In 2006, they were hired as advisors on the staff of Romanian President

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

. Bellu was also the president of the National Sports Committee and a state secretary in the Ministry of Sports.

Comeback

In 2010, the Romanian federation invited Bellu and Bitang to help prepare the national team for the 2012 Olympic Games. Bellu was reinstated as head of the national team, replacing Nicolae Forminte.International Gymnast Magazine
Stretching out: Cal’s precarious future and an update from Romania, by Dwight Normile, 18 June 2010International Gymnast Magazine
Stretching out: Olympic qualification & guess who’s back, by Dwight Normile, 1 June 2010International Gymnast Magazine
Romanian women top British hosts, by Amanda Turner, 14 August 2010 Bellu reached the 300-medal mark in European, World and Olympic Games after the 2013 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Moscow.

Personal life

Bellu has one daughter, Iolanda, born in 1978, with his first wife, Camelia, a nurse. In 2008–2009, he married Mariana Bitang, his coaching partner.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellu, Octavian 1951 births Living people People from Ploiești Sportspeople from Ploiești Romanian gymnastics coaches Romanian presidential advisors Romanian sportsperson-politicians