ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 30, 1990                   TAG: 9007300196
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PETE HERRERA ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SEATTLE                                LENGTH: Long


COMANECI TELLS STORY OF ESCAPE, FEAR

Former Romanian gymnastics star Nadia Comaneci said Saturday she was held captive for three months by the man who helped her defect to the West last December and later was portrayed as her lover.

In her first extensive interview concerning her relationship with Constantin Panait, Comaneci also said the Romanian carpenter had "stolen" from her $150,000 she earned in appearances throughout the United States after her defection.

Comaneci, in Seattle for the Goodwill Games, when asked if Panait had threatened or physically abused her, she replied, "He was not so good with me."

Comaneci said Panait fled with $150,000 she had earned on her tour of the United States three days after they arrived in Montreal last February to visit Alexandru Stefu, a friend of Comaneci's former Romanian coach, Bela Karolyi.

Comaneci, who won eight medals in Montreal in 1976 and became the first gymnast to score a perfect score in the Olympics, drew considerable negative press in the United States while in the company of Panait, a married man and father of four.

Comaneci, however, denied there was any romantic involvement on her part and that she joined Panait only after he offered to help her escape from Romania. She said Panait was paid $5,000 to help her escape and the two crossed the border into Hungary at midnight on Nov. 25, 1989. After being detained briefly by Hungarian police, they were released.

The couple arrived in New York on Nov. 28 and became an immediate media attraction. Comaneci said from the time she joined Panait, he dictated her every move.

"He didn't let anyone near me," Comaneci said. "He told me all the time what I must say."

Comaneci said she met Panait at a family party a week before she defected and had not known him for a year, as she initially indicated.

"I said I knew him for one year because he said it would be better for me to get the visa if I declared that," Comaneci said. "He told me also to declare that I don't want to come back in gymnastics or to see my former coach, Bela Karolyi."

Comaneci said she had no one else to turn to in the United States or Canada and had no way of contacting Karolyi.

"I didn't know nobody. I was a like a stranger and didn't know my rights," she said. "He told me all the time that if I don't say what he said, he would send me back to Romania.

"I read the papers and knew that I had a negative press for the first time in my life. But I couldn't fight against this. I couldn't find somebody to explain the truth because I was afraid."

Stefu, who now serves as Comaneci's personal manager, said he contacted Panait in Los Angeles and asked to meet with Nadia. Stefu said he told Panait he could arrange a major contract for Comaneci.

Comaneci escaped her country shortly before the fall of Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, who ruled Romania for more than 20 years.

Comaneci reportedly had a long relationship with Nicu Ceausescu, the dictator's son. Comaneci has denied having anything to do with Nicu Ceausescu, although her mother has said he tormented Comaneci physically and emotionally during a five-year relationship.

Comaneci said she could not comment on her relationship with Nicu Ceausescu because it is the subject of a movie scheduled for release early in 1991.

Comaneci added she feared Romanian repercussions even after she arrived in the United States.

"It was very dangerous for me because the Romanian secret police have people all over the world. I had heard that some Romanian people who had defected had disappeared," she said.

Comaneci said she did not regret leaving Romania, despite the problems she encountered at the hands of Panait.

"I don't regret," she said, "because my dream was to live in a free country. I wanted to come to the [United] States because the life had started to be very hard in Romania. Not just for me, but for all the people."

Comaneci said Panait has returned to his family and now lives in Florida. He has tried to contact her only once since March. He could not be reached for comment Saturday.

"I can't say that I hate him and I can't say that I like him," she said. "He helped me escape from Romania. The money does not mean anything because I have the freedom."

A virtual prisoner in her homeland, Comaneci decided to defect. Her status as the most popular and famous Romanian athlete made her an adversary of Nicolae Ceausescu.

"He was jealous," Comaneci said. "The queen of England once told him she knew of Romania because of me and Ilie Nastase. He did not like that."

Comaneci said she knew she was risking execution by defecting.

"It was a big risk, but if I was caught, probably I would be shot. But I didn't care," she said.

She said that after she defected, Romanian police interrogated her mother, brother and other members of her family for up to 10 hours daily over a 10-day period.

"They were also followed all the time," she said. "It was very hard for them. But even my mother didn't know I was going to do it. Only my brother Adrian knew."

After retiring in 1984, Comaneci worked with the Romanian gymnastics federation, doing meaningless paperwork. She was not allowed to attend international meets or International Olympic Committee meetings, despite her membership on that body.

Comaneci hopes to get her family out of Romania and has established a foundation to raise money for her embattled and strife torn homeland.

"I have $11,000 now, but I dream to have $200,000," she said.

She hopes to someday return to Romania to visit, but not until the political situation stabilizes. She also hopes to return to gymnastics as a coach in Canada. Later this year, she is scheduled to appear with former U.S. Olympian Bart Conner on a television special.



 by CNB