The Romanian edition of Playboy magazine confirmed the fact that Corina Ungureanu will be on the cover of their third issue, to be released on December 16th. The news started a chain reaction of comments and protests, one more vehement than the other. The first person to express his disapproval was Octavian Belu. His colleague, Mariana Bitang agreed with him, saying that "Corina got a lot more from gymnastics than what she gave (to the sport). She is tarnishing the image of her teammates, even though she is now retired, and she can do whatever she wants. In any case, I don't understand how an obscure gymnast who takes her clothes off gets a lot more attention from the press that the victories of our current champions."

Crin Antonescu, the head of the Romanian Sports & Youth Department avoided any comments on the issue. "As long as she's 18, it's ok. Beyond that, I'm not interested in this matter."

Another Romanian official, Vasile Conta, general secretary of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation had this to add "It's not that serious, it's just that the Romanian people aren't used to this. Playboy is a well-known magazine, and some of the celebrities who posed nude for it include Cindy Crawford and Katarina Witt."

"I understand Belu's reaction who is thinking like a father, but I don't think Corina's decision to appear in the magazine will affect the image of Romanian gymnastics", said Adrian Stoica.

Lavinia Milosovici believes everyone's life is his own. "Maybe she rushed things a little, but she is free to do whatever she wants", said Milo.

Eva Miklos, National team member and one of the most photographed Romanian athletes believes posing for Playboy is not something anyone can do. "The magazine has a high standard and they won't ask just anyone to appear in it. As long as she looka good, I think it's normal our gymnast accepted their proposal. I think not having any of these prejudices is a quality, and I don't see why she's being criticized for it."

Tennis player Raluca Sandu, supported Corina's decision, saying she won't hurt the sport's image, and if the offer is worth it, it would be only normal for someone to accept it. "Let's not forget that Boris Becker, for example, appeared nude in a TAG heur commercial, and Katarina Witt did the same thing in Playboy."

The Romanian gymnastics Federation decided to take Corina Ungureanu off ther list of "10 best gymnasts of the year." Thankfully, the Romanian Sports Department decided to ignore them and invited her to the ceremony and gave her prizes anyway.

Belu has decided to keep quiet on this matter, saying as he left for Japan that Corina "knows things which are fairly unpleasant."

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