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Romania and gymnastics go hand in hand. That is partly thanks to the legendary Nadia Comăneci, alongside a catalog of Olympic champions over the years. However, with their latest potential superstar, Sabrina Voinea, things haven’t exactly gone as expected. The talented teenager had been at the center of a major scandal over the last year, and things have escalated yet again, reportedly reaching a physical tussle.

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As per GOLAZO.ro, Sabrina Voinea reportedly had an altercation with a member of the Romanian women’s weightlifting team. It reportedly started after the 18-year-old slapped an unnamed weightlifter in the hotel of the Lia Manoliu Complex.

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Things escalated from there and grew more serious before another gymnast and weightlifter intervened. They were joined by members of the kitchen staff, who helped separate Sabrina Voinea and the unnamed weightlifter.

“I don’t know exactly what they started from, because I wasn’t close enough to hear them,” an unnamed source said. “But I heard some noise at some point, and I went out to see what was going on. It seemed like something out of a movie! Slaps, that’s all.

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“Then Sabrina’s colleague intervened; I don’t know her name. Melisa… (nr – Orzacai). But immediately, a second girl from the weightlifting team got in, and a fight broke out. Sabrina’s colleague got slapped seriously.”

According to the protected source, Sabrina Voinea allegedly called the weightlifter “fat,” which led to retaliation and ultimately resulted in a fight involving the four women.

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Florin Oancea, head of the “Lia Manoliu” sports complex, further denied that police were called and confirmed that he is set to have conversations with both the president of the Weightlifting Federation and members of the Gymnastics Federation about the issue.

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MANECA-VOINEA Sabrina Rou during Men s and Women s Artistic Europeans, Gymnastics in Leipzig, Germany, May 26 2025 PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxITA Copyright: xFilippoxTomasi/IPAxSportx/xipa-agency.netx/xx IPA_58283931 IPA_Agency_IPA58283931

Alexandru Pădure, the president of the Romanian Weightlifting Federation, confirmed the incident.

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“I know what it’s about. Even if our girls answered something, they still made a mistake,” Pădure said. “They are athletes, and at the end of the day, they have to meet and shake hands. There’s pressure in training camp, I understand, but conflicts of this kind are intolerable.”

This accusation marks the second time someone has accused the 18-year-old of alleged misconduct in a similar vein.

Florin Oancea confirms that Sabrina Voinea was part of an altercation

In October 2025, Romanian gymnast Denisa Golgota accused Voinea of allegedly bullying her, although she never named the 18-year-old specifically. During her interview, Golgota revealed that someone mentally abused her and even threatened her with physical harm.

Golgota stated that the incident occurred after the 2025 Gymnastics World Championships and that she filed a complaint with the federation. However, they allegedly ignored it, and nothing ever happened. But in a later interview, Camelia Voinea (Sabrina’s mother) denied that her daughter had done anything wrong, inadvertently revealing who Golgota was talking about.

Now, the director of the Lia Manoliu Complex in Bucharest has confirmed that Voinea was part of the latest incident.

“I cannot give you too many details, because I am only now returning to the complex,” Oancea said.

“Yes, from what I understand, there are two weightlifting girls and two gymnastics girls, one of whom is Sabrina Voinea. But I cannot tell you why the conflict started. I was not informed of that. Now the girls are no longer in the complex; I was told that they left.”

It does leave the Disciplinary Commission with another investigation, with its future hanging in the balance, ahead of key gymnastics events.

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Written by

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Siddhant Lazar

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Siddhant Lazar is a US Sports Writer at EssentiallySports, covering track and field, Olympic sport and cycling. His recent reporting has followed the USATF Championships, the Commonwealth Games and the doping-testing dispute at the Tour de France. Siddhant holds a BBA in Media and Communications and began covering sport during the 2020-21 disruption, reporting on the postponed Euro 2021 and the shortened European soccer season. He has worked as an intern, editor and head writer across digital sports outlets, with bylines at Goal.com and SportsCafe before joining EssentiallySports.

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Riya Singhal

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