Octavian Ioan Atanase Bellu (; born 17 February 1951) is the current head of the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n national women's

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

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 In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

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 b ...

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

Lavinia Miloșovici Lavinia Corina Miloșovici (born 21 October 1976) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast.Jane Perlez (13 July 1995"Romanian Coach Keeps Up the Fight" ''New York Times'' An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit ...

Andreea Răducan Andreea Mădălina Răducan (; born 30 September 1983) is a retired gymnast from Bârlad, Romania. She currently works as a sports announcer and journalist. Răducan began competing in gymnastics at a young age and was training at the Romanian j ...

Monica Roșu Monica Roşu (born 11 May 1987) is a former artistic gymnast from Romania. During her career, she won two Olympic gold medals (team and vault), a silver medal with the Romanian team at world championships, and two gold medals at the European Cha ...

Simona Amânar Simona Amânar (; born 7 October 1979) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast. She is a seven-time Olympic and ten-time World Championship medalist. Amânar helped Romania win four consecutive world team titles (1994–1999), as well as the 2000 ...

Gina Gogean Gina Elena Gogean (born 9 September 1977) is a retired artistic gymnast from Romania who competed internationally in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. During her career she won an impressive number of 30 medals at Olympic Games, world cha ...

Cătălina Ponor Cătălina Ponor (; born 20 August 1987) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast who competed at three Olympiads: 2004, 2012, and 2016. She won three gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens on balance beam, floor and as part of the R ...

Sandra Izbașa Sandra Raluca Izbașa (; born 18 June 1990) is a retired artistic gymnast from Romania. She is a double Olympic champion, having won the floor event at the 2008 Olympics and vault at the 2012 Olympics. She is also a winner of two Olympic bronze m ...

and

Larisa Iordache Larisa Andreea Iordache (; born 19 June 1996) is a former Romanians, Romanian 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 IGHO ...

in May 2009.

Early life and career

Bellu started out in gymnastics as a gymnast at Petrolul Ploieşti 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 Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, 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 Cǎlugǎreascǎ. 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 Ploieşti and then at a club in Bacǎu.

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 conservatism, conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions ...

. 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

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