Embassy Press Release

Romanian Olympic Gold Medalist Featured in eJournal USA

eJournal USA: The Olympic Experience

- RELATED INFO -

Everything Else Stops (by Gabriela Szabo) eJournal USA: The Olympic Experience [ .PDF 9,001 Kb, April 2008, Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader ]

She is often called Romania’s distance queen. Many Romanians remember the honor tour she did with the nation’s flag wrapped around her shoulders after winning the 5,000-meter race at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Romanian Athlete Gabriela Szabo has chosen to share these moments of glory with international readers, as contributor to the online magazine eJournal USA.

"In a 5,000-meters race, it’s only in the last 200 meters that you start to count your steps. It’s like everything else stops, and you’re the only one who is moving. The sound of your breath is compet¬ing with the sound of your steps, and you don’t see all the people around you anymore,” writes Ms. Szabo in the first paragraph of her essay. “I don’t know if I was ever so proud to be an athlete and to represent Romania."

Szabo describes the last moments on the finishing line in the 5,000-meters race at Sydney, recalls the hard effort put in years of training, and talks about her activity as vice president of the Romanian Athletic Federation, were she initiates social campaigns and talks with children on the importance of participating in sports.

"And if only one child will become a champion, I’ll know that my effort was worth it!" concludes Szabo.

Inside the special edition of eJournal USA dedicated to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, "The Olympic Experience," Szabo's account of her Olympic moment can be found along side stories by U.S. gymnast Bart Conner, Slovenian rower Iztok Cop, U.S. basketball player Dawn Staley, U.S. soccer player Tab Ramos, U.S. Olympic team runner Bernard Lagat, U.S. wrestler Rulon Gardner, and U.S. swimmer Janet Evans. The edition also features essays by three sports journalists covering Olympics.

The magazine can be viewed and downloaded at the following link http://www.america.gov/publications/ejournalusa.html

eJournal USA is a monthly electronic journal published by The Bureau of International Information Programs of the U.S. Department of State, which examines major issues facing the United States and the international community, as well as U.S. society, values, thought, and institutions. One new journal is published monthly in English and is followed by versions in French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. To view past editions of the magazine you can visit the following link http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/journala.htm

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