Corina Ungureanu will never know if she could have been the top Romanian gymnast of the year - the world champion has been barred from consideration because she posed in the nude for the Romanian edition of Playboy.
Ungureanu was blocked last Thursday from the competition, says the Associated Press, when the Romanian Federation of Gymnastics removed the 19-year-old off the list of those competing for the award in protest. Gymnastics officials have accused her of besmirching the sport by her appearance in the December issue of Romanian Playboy.
Ungureanu herself resigned herself to the decision. "If the federation considers that I was not part of the team, then that's their right," she has told Romanian television.
Romanian-born gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci has also criticized Ungureanu, saying she didn't think the magazine appearance was a good idea. "It damages the image of Romanian gymnastics," says Comaneci.
